State-run Oil India has experienced no disruption in payment for its diesel exports to Bangladesh or in receiving equipment for its refinery project through the neighbouring country, its chairman Ranjit Rath has said.
“We have a letter of credit in place,” Said Rath, adding that there was no payment problem with regard to diesel exports to Bangladesh. Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), controlled by Oil India, currently exports 0.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of diesel to Bangladesh via a pipeline that was inaugurated in March last year and has a capacity to transport 1 million tonnes of diesel annually.
NRL is expanding its refining capacity from 3 mtpa to 9 mtpa at Numaligarh in Assam. Several overdimensional cargoes needed for the expansion project are imported at Haldia port and then cross Bangladesh to reach Numaligarh, Rath said, adding that these cargoes have faced no transit problem.
Adani group recently reached out to the new government in Bangladesh to expedite the payment for the electricity it supplies to Bangladesh Power Development Board. An interim government took charge in Bangladesh last month following the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
NRL aims to commission its expanded refining capacity by December 2025, with another six months needed for stabilisation, Rath said. The 1635-km crude pipeline connecting Paradip port to Numaligarh will also be ready by then, he added. NRL expects to import about 5.5 mtpa of crude for processing at its refinery.
Oil India’s dividends from Russian oil and gas fields have accumulated to $250 million since the sanctions triggered by the Ukraine war stopped its repatriation. The money is lying with State Bank of India in Moscow and Oil India is in discussion with Russia for its repatriation, Rath said.
Oil India’s biorefinery plant in Assam will start producing ethanol by the end of this month, Rath said.