MRPL processes Angola, US crudes in 2019-20

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), which has been continuously diversifying its crude sources to mitigate the risk of disruption in any particular country, processed new crudes from Angola and the US during 2019-20.

According to the 32nd annual report of MRPL for 2019-20, new crudes — Cabinda from Angola (API 32.20) and Thunder Horse from the US (API 33.46) — were processed for the first time during 2019-20.

[API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity is a measure of how high or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. The higher the API, lighter the crude oil. A lower API means heavier crude oil.]

Highlighting the strengths of the refinery, the company’s annual report said it has a strong configuration with a high complexity. “The refinery is capable to optimally process wide grades of crude oil ranging from 20 API to 45 API. This provides flexibility in crude sourcing and substitution,” it said.

MRPL meets its crude oil requirement from various national oil companies of exporting countries on term basis and from open market on spot basis. Crude is the most important raw material for MRPL and it constitutes about 95 per cent of its expenses.

The company has been continuously diversifying its crude sources to mitigate the risk of disruption in any particular country. In 2019-20, the company handled the continued unavailability of Iranian crude through crude diversification, and new crudes Cabinda (Angola) and Thunder Horse (US) were processed during the year, it said.

During 2019-20, the company procured 14.084 million tonnes (mt) of crude oil. Of this, 10.920 mt was imported, and the balance was sourced indigenously from Bombay High, Ravva and Mangala of ONGC and Cairn India.

Crude oil was imported from NIOC (0.290 mt), Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (1.202 mt), Saudi Aramco (5.327 mt), ADNOC (1.512 mt), and SOMO (1.960 mt) during 2019-20.

To meet the Low Sulphur Heavy Stock (LSHS) requirement and shortfall in term crude requirement, MRPL also imported crude oil (0.629 MMT) through spot tender during the year, it said.