IOC commercialises LPG output maximisation technology

Mumbai: Oil marketing and refining company Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) is commercialising its in-house technology `IndMax' (indane maximisation). This will help increase LPG production in its refineries by 35-40 per cent, IOC said.

To begin with, IOC would use this technology at its refineries in Haldia, Panipat and Barauni, company officials said. The company has applied for patents for the IndMax technology in the US, the EU, China and India, officials added.

Meanwhile, IOC is all set to deploy its own fluidised catalytic cracking (FCC) technology at its upcoming 15-million tonnes integrated Paradip refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex. The in-house technology IndMax will help IOC increase LPG production in its refineries.

With this technology, the Paradip refinery in Orissa will produce an additional one million tonnes of LPG annually. The technology enables high yields of LPG and high-octane petrol by using various refinery streams, including heavy residues and naphtha as feedstock.

IOC is likely to import 40-million tonnes of crude oil in the year to March 2008 - a marginal increase from 37.5-million tonnes in the current fiscal year, its chairman Sarthak Behuria said.

Meanwhile, the company, he said, will take an additional hit of Rs8 crore a day on account of the government's decision to reduce the price of petrol and diesel by Rs2 and Re1 per litre, respectively. This has raised the daily "under- recovery" of IOC to Rs54 crore, he added.