A joint venture of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) with Shell will provide aviation turbine fuelling (ATF) services to airports in Mumbai and Delhi, said U. K.Basu, Managing Director, MRPL, a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. He was speaking at a press meet in Mangalore on Saturday after the company's 23rd annual meeting. The ATF is produced by MRPL, which currently provides ATF to the airports in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Ahmedabad and Kozhikode, he said.
The company's ATF sales have increased by 23 per cent to 67 TMT as against 54 TMT last year. Its total sales turnover of ATF was Rs.2,291 crore. A joint venture of MRPL with Shell B.V. Netherlands, markets the ATF. In 2010-11, the company fuelled 12,674 flights, said a handout from the company.
Mr. Basu said the company's single point mooring (SPM) facility in the sea in the Mangalore port area would not hinder fishing. “The SPM is not new in the Indian scenario. It is working all over India. It will be buried in the sea and will not cause a problem to fishing,” he said. Work would begin in November to April when the sea is calm, said Mr. Basu.
The project was approved in June, said A. K. Hazarika, Chairman, ONGC group of companies. The facility will enable receiving crude oil in very large crude carriers (VLCCs). The ONGC board approved of it in July this year.The target date for completion of the project is May 2012. The company has plans for establishing a retail network. Its board has approved ‘in principle' the setting up of 122 retail outlets. It is waiting for a level-playing field and will start retail operations if margins are good. “If deregulation happens, we will start. Otherwise, it is a losing proposition,” said Mr. Upadhya.
Iran crude
MRPL is getting 60-65 per cent of its crude oil requirements from Iran. The issue of payment mechanism with Iran has now been resolved. “It is one of the best deals. There will be no stoppage of crude from Iran. We have found a solution,” said Mr. Hazarika. An alternative arrangement has been found with crude from Kuwait. While 7 million tonnes comes from Iran, one million tonne comes from Kuwait,” said Mr. Basu.
