GUWAHATI:
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has achieved a major milestone by recording the highest-ever crude throughput of 3.093 million metric tonnes (MMT) against its nameplate capacity of 3.0 MMT in the 2022-23 fiscal.
“In a major step in this journey, two NE-focused oil companies @OilIndiaLimited & @NRL_MoPNG report record physical performance for FY 2022-23! OIL achieved highest ever Natural Gas Production (3.176 BCM) since inception & highest crude oil production (3.179 MMT) during last 4 yrs,” Union minister for petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet on Monday.
“India’s energy sector entities working in top gear to achieve PM Sh @narendramodi Ji’s vision for an energy self-reliant India & putting NE states on the path to fast-paced development. Initiatives to boost production, refinery throughput & efficiency are showing results!,” Puri tweeted.
Additionally, the company has also achieved a distillate yield of 87.6%, the highest since its inception.
NRL has accomplished this feat while keeping capital expenditure at Rs 6,615 crore, which is the highest ever to date, surpassing its earlier record of ₹ 3,605 Crore in 2021-22 fiscal.
The company has concluded the 2022-23 fiscal on a positive note with an exemplary physical performance which is expected to translate into financial gains and enhanced bottom lines.
Major refinery products such as MS, HSD and Wax have shown the highest-ever production figures at 662.4 MT, 2,134.8 MT and 47.7 MT. LPG bottling has also been the highest ever at 65.9 TMT.
Another highlight of the financial year has been the successful commissioning and inauguration of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline by the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh on March 18.
The 1 MMTPA, 132 KM pipeline has been built to transport HSD from NRL’s Siliguri Marketing Terminal in West Bengal to Parbatipur in Bangladesh.
The refinery is on a major capacity expansion drive to increase its capacity from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA which also includes putting up of a crude oil import terminal in Paradip Port, Odisha and laying a 1,640 KM crude oil pipeline from Paradip to Numaligarh.
NRL is also implementing the first-of-its-kind biorefinery with bamboo biomass as feedstock at Numaligarh through a JV Company with Finnish collaborators. The biorefinery expected to be commissioned by the end of 2023 would produce 49,000 tonnes of ethanol and other chemicals; contributing to the nation’s objective of achieving 20% ethanol blending in petrol by the year 2025.