MANGALURU: The first cargo of ONGC's newly explored crude oil on the Krishna Godavari Basin was received at Mangaluru Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) on Saturday.
This new crude oil, named KG 98/2, was brought to Mangaluru by a ship named Swarna Sindhu, which was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 2.
This sweet (low sulphur) indigenous crude is poised to be transformed into various fuels and petrochemicals at MRPL contributing to the Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, MRPL Managing Director Mundkur Shyamprasad Kamath told reporters.
The coastal refinery with three separate crude distillation units and essential supporting infrastructure will process newer crudes. This has enabled it to have a diverse crude basket of 250 crudes from around the globe, of which more than 100 have already been processed in the refinery complex at Mangaluru.
The exploration at Krishna Godavari basin resulted from an investment of Rs 30,000 crore by ONGC in deep and ultra-deep field explorations fraught with natural and technical challenges. At its peak, this production is expected to reach 45,000 BOPD per day of crude oil and 10 million SCM per day of natural gas.
Kamath said crude oil production results from ONGC Group's commitment and technical capabilities to contribute to the nation's energy self-dependence. He informed that this crude oil would amount to a 7% increase in India's crude oil and natural gas production potential at its peak.
Sanjay Varma, Director of Refinery, MRPL, gave an overview of the event's significance in India's energy landscape and its role in unlocking India's economic potential. Sunil Kumar, GGM Projects of ONGC, symbolically handed over the crude oil to MRPL.
MRPL denies allegations of polluting Phalguni river
MRPL MD Kamath on Satuday denied allegations that MRPL is polluting the Phalguni river.
Kamath said following allegations about MRPL discharging effluents into the river, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board visited the refinery area and conducted an inspection but found nothing of that sort.
Further, he said the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) too conducts grid analysis of the MRPL once in two years by taking the samples in the five and 10-km radius of the refinery but even that has found no gross abnormality.
MRPL Director (Refinery) Sanjay Varma attributed the pollution of the river to some industries discharging untreated industrial waste and sewage in the upstream Baikampady. He said the water in the river turns blackish during summer as the check dam is closed in Malavoor leading to decrease in water flow in the river. He said there can be solution to this issue only when it is addressed in totality.
Varma said they are waiting for forest department clearance to implement a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the mangrove forest on Kudumburu rivulet between Baggundi lake and Phalguni (Gurupura) river. He hoped that they will get clearance for the same within a month. Stating that there is shortfall of land for green belt, he said they will acquire additional land of 27 acres for augmenting the green belt.