IOC commissions Paradip-Haldia crude pipeline

Crude oil started flowing from Indian Oil Corporation's single point mooring (SPM) facility at Paradip, in Orissa, to IOC's Haldia refinery in West Bengal on 28 December, with the commissioning of a 330-km pipeline along the east coast.

The commissioning of the pipeline project will replace a large part of the POL traffic through Haldia Port from 2009 and thereby reduce its transportation costs.

The pipeline connects Paradip to Haldia, traversing about 228 km along the Orissa coast. The pipeline then runs for 102 km in West Bengal before terminating at Haldia crude oil tank farm.

The Rs1,200-crore project has a designed capacity to transport 11 million tonne of crude oil annually.

PK Chakraborti, director (pipeline) of IOC, said the project will reduce the crude transportation cost of Haldia and Barauni refineries, which together process approximately one fourth of IOC's total refining capacity of 60 million tonnes a year.

Haldia refinery alone is expected to save an average Rs450 crore a year once crude is sourced from Paradip.

While it will result in improving overall refining margin in the two refineries by $1-1.5 a barrel, it will also help expand the company's refining operations in Guwahati and Bongaigaon, he said.

With the commissioning of the pipeline, the total length of IOC's pipeline network, including crude oil and product pipelines, would go up to about 10,000 km. The company plans to add about 4,000 km of new pipelines during the XI Plan period ending 2012.