Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has signed agreements with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL), one of the world’s largest and reputed shipping companies, to handle transportation of liquefied ethane from North America to India.
“MOL will supervise the construction of six Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), ordered by Reliance. MOL will also operate and manage the vessels after they are built and delivered,” RIL said in a statement on Thursday.
Over four months back RIL had placed an order for six VLECs with Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd for transportation of liquefied ethane. These carriers, a hybrid of LPG and LNG carriers, would be the largest vessels ever built in the world and are expected to be delivered starting last quarter of 2016 in synchronisation with the readiness of terminal in North America.
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RIL which has invested heavily in shale gas in North America plans to import ethane that has become the dominant feedstock for crackers replacing liquids. Shipping ethane to India is part of RIL’s plans to attain long term feedstock competitiveness, the company had said in August this year.
Reliance is implementing a project to source 1.5 MM TPA of ethane from US to feed its crackers in India. The company has now executed storage and capacity agreements for liquefaction and export of ethane with a North American Terminal, which is expected to commence operations in the second half of 2016.
RIL is also building a world-scale receiving and storage facility in India for liquefied ethane and pipeline to deliver ethane to its crackers.
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With this strategic tie-up with MOL, Reliance said it has achieved a key milestone for the successful implementation of Ethane import project to feed crackers in India.