KOCHI: BPCL Kochi Refinery has received the first parcel of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s own crude oil, marking another far-reaching step for the PSU oil refiner towards enhancing the energy security of the country.
At a function at the control room of BPCL Shore Tank Farm at Puthuvypeen on Monday, Cochin Port Trust chairperson M Beena switched on the pumping of the BPCL own crude oil from vessel 'MT Gemini Sun'. Bharat Petro Resources Ltd (BPRL) managing director Ajay Kumar and executive director (Kochi Refinery) Prasad K Panicker were present on the occasion.
'MT Gemini Sun' was loaded with 7,00,000 barrels of Das blend crude oil from Lower Zakum concession on October 15 from the loading terminal at Das Island operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Offshore.
This tranche of BPRLs share of equity oil received in Kochi marks the first direct sale to its parent company, BPCL. The vessel had reached Kochi Refinery SPM, the crude oil receipt facility which is 19.2 km in deep sea off the Puthuvypeen coast, early on Monday, said a release.
In July, approximately 1 million barrels of BPRL’s share of equity crude oil from the Lower Zakum concession was lifted by Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. BPRL, a 100 per cent subsidiary of BPCL, and its exploration and production arm, currently has a participating interest (PI) in 25 blocks spread across eight countries along with equity stake in two Russian entities operating four producing assets.
BPRL, ONGC Videsh and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, acting jointly as the Indian Consortium, have been awarded 10 per cent stake in Lower Zakum concession, offshore Abu Dhabi. The concession has a term of 40 years, effective from March 9 this year.
The other shareholders in the Lower Zakum concession are JODCO (10 per cent, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s INPEX Corporation), China National Petroleum Corporation (10 per cent), Italy’s ENI (5 per cent) and France’s Total SA (5 per cent). The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) holds a majority 60 per cent stake in the concession. The current production of this field is approximately 400,000 bopd and Indian Consortium annual share will be about 2 MMT with BPRLs share of equity oil being approximately 12,000 bopd.
Acquisition of stake in Lower Zakum concession by the Indian consortium marks the entry of BPRL in the highly-prospective UAE region and is consistent with its stated strategic objective of adding high quality producing assets to its existing E&P portfolio.