Saudi Aramco and Adnoc’s India downstream project schedule delayed

13 December 2018
The $50bn megaproject’s commissioning deadline has been pushed back by two years until 2025

India has delayed the commissioning of a giant $50bn refinery and petrochemicals complex that a consortium of three state-owned companies are building in partnership with Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) by two years to 2025, according to a Reuters report.

The planned complex is to be located in the western state of Maharashtra, and will have the capacity to refine 1.2 million barrels a day of crude and produce 18 million tonnes a year of petrochemical products. It was scheduled to be commissioned in 2023.

"The project will [now] be completed in 2024 and commissioning will be in 2025," Reuters has quoted B Ashok, CEO of Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (RRPCL) - the joint venture managing the project - was quoted as saying.

In April this year, Aramco signed an agreement with the Indian government to invest in 50 per cent of the megaproject. Adnoc in June bought half of Aramco’s stake in the venture.

The state consortium of Indian Oil Corporation (25 per cent), Hindustan Petroleum (12.5 per cent) and Bharat Petroleum (12.5 per cent) holds the other 50 per cent stake in the project, to be located along India’s Arabian Sea coastline, near Ratnagiri.

RRPCL’s CEO has said the new commissioning schedule has been drawn up as the company now has "detailed information on the configuration, availability of the people to build and so on."

According to RPPL website, the project would be spread over 15,000 acres of land.

Acquisition of land for the project site has been put on hold after the local government in Maharashtra in November said regional farmers had vehemently protested against the project.

MEED in September reported that the Maharashtra state government had formed a panel for the land acquisition process. It was also meant to meet with disgruntled farmers, and their representative bodies, to understand their concerns and convince them to trade in their lands for the downstream project.

The megaproject, initially expected to cost $44bn, will be the largest of its kind in the world when commissioned.

While the project guarantees India a steady supply of refined oil and derivative products to meet its burgeoning demand, it gives Aramco and Adnoc a reliable outlet for its crude produce for years to come.

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