The Minister of Petroleum & Natural
Gas Shri Murli Deora inaugurated the LPG Cavern Storage of South Asia LPG
Company Private Limited which is a Joint Venture of the Oil majors HPCL and
Total, France at Visakhapatanam
today. The minister also graced the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of HPCL’s Visakh Refinery.
During his speech, Shri Deora applauded the pioneering
efforts of HPCL and Total in shaping the first Indian Cavern storage into
reality. The minister indicated that, in fact, the Cavern is the first of
its kind in South and Southeast Asia. The facility has helped the Country join the select
group of advanced nations.
The
Cavern storage is a unique achievement and engineering marvel. In his speech
the minister hailed Larsen & Toubro, who are
the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Commissioning (EPCC) contractors
for the project. The bottom most point in LPG Cavern is 182 M below mean seal
level (MSL) and ranks among the deepest Caverns in the world. The Cavern has
a storage capacity of 60,000 MT LPG and is the largest single point storage
in the country. The large Cavern storage will help in ensuring uninterrupted
availability of LPG in the east coast and will bring-in freight economics
through Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGC).
Underground Caverns are the safest
mode of storage and environment friendly. They are isolated from external
hazards like Fire, War, Sabotage, Explosions, and Natural calamities. The
Cavern-Marine Terminal, located at Lovagarden, near
Dolphins Hill Nose, is provided with the world class State of art Instrumentation,
Control, and Safety systems.
Speaking on the Golden Jubilee Celebrations,
the Minister complemented HPCL Visakh Refinery on
completing 50 marvelous performance years. Visakh Refinery has
been the first refinery on the east coast set up as Caltex
Oil Refining India Ltd. (CORIL) in the city of destiny, Visakhapatnam. Started
with the modest installed capacity of 0.65 MMTPA in 1957, Visakh Refinery was expanded in phases to its current capacity
of 7.5 MMTPA. The Refinery is now consistently operating at more than 9 MMTPA
from 2006-07 onwards.
Several dignitaries comprising Ministers
from Central & State Government, Officials from Central & State Government,
MOP&NG, Vizag Port Trust, Indian Navy, other
various Industries and Statutory Authorities etc. also graced the occasion.
Following is the text of Shri Deora’s speech:
“It gives me
immense pleasure to inaugurate the Country’s first Underground Cavern for
storing LPG. I compliment South Asia LPG Company Private Limited for this
unique achievement. I also congratulate Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and
Total,
France
for jointly promoting this venture.
This
is the first time that LPG, an essential household fuel, will be stored in
Cavern in our Country. 60,000 tonnes of LPG would be stored 162 meters below
the ground level in hard rock Cavern of 19 meter height. The facility will benefit the Nation by importing
LPG in larger ships thus reducing the transportation tariffs and also take
advantage of the seasonal fluctuations in LPG prices. It will help in country having a buffer stock
to deal with physical disruption of supplies.
I
congratulate - HPCL for conceptualising the Cavern way back in 1996. The Cavern
has now become a reality through the combined and sustained efforts of HPCL
and the French Oil major, Total. The Cavern construction commenced in February
2004 and has been completed in a time of under 4
years.
It is a known fact that LPG is a clean
and environment friendly fuel. Worldwide it is the first choice as the domestic
fuel in view of its convenience. Government of India
has continuously given special emphasis on expanding the reach of LPG throughout
the Country. The number of LPG connections
in the country has increased from 7.72 crore in
2003-04 to 9.7 crore today. Approximately 2 crore LPG connections have been released in the country in
the past three years. The LPG customers
in Andhra Pradesh have increased from about 82 lakh
in 2004 to 1.06 crore. Government is continuously
laying emphasis on taking the LPG to rural areas and increase its coverage.
The consumption of LPG in the country
has reached 11 million tonnes per annum and is growing around 7% per annum.
The domestic production of LPG is about 9 million tonnes and the balance quantity
is imported. The LPG bottling capacity has increased substantially. It is
important to have adequate domestic storage to take care of supply disruptions.
The Government has also taken a decision
to build strategic storage of 5 million tonne of crude oil at Mangalore, Padur
and Visakhapatnam
with capacity of 1.5 million tonne, 2.5 million tonne and 1 million tones
respectively in underground rock Caverns. This will add storage capacity by
about 15 days of consumption in the country and would cost Rs.
2400 crores for the construction of the storage
and over Rs.12,000 crores
for the cost of crude oil.
In
the end, I would like to mention that to safeguard the interests of vulnerable
and economically weaker sections of the society, the Government has not
increased the prices of domestic LPG and PDS Kerosene though the prices in the
international oil market have become very volatile and the Crude Oil Price has
crossed US $ 100 per barrel. The price
of LPG would have gone up by about Rs. 353 per
cylinder and of PDS Kerosene by Rs. 20 per litre if the Government had not taken this decision.
The
creation of this facility in Visakhapatnam and the resultant economic &
financial benefits with provide direct & indirect employment to the local
youth. Further investments in the area will be in the form of pipeline network.
This facility would also strengthen the supply network for LPG in Andhra
Pradesh.
I
am also happy to learn that the Visakh Refinery
of HPCL is celebrating the 50 years of illustrious existence. Andhra Pradesh
has a great history of achievements that is reflected in the progressive culture
and rich civilization of the state. The growth and success of Visakh
Refinery is a tribute to the hardworking & dedicated people of Andhra
Pradesh.
The celebration of Golden Jubilee of any institution
is a momentous event. Since the time the foundation was laid as the first
Refinery on the East coast and as the first major industry in Visakhapatnam,
this refinery has grown from strength to strength increasing its refining
capacity manifold. This refinery has achieved excellence in many fields such
as capacity utilization, energy and environment management achieving highest
ever crude throughput of 9.2 MMTPA which is about 123% of its installed capacity.
It is also commendable that the refinery received the Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Award Second Prize
in the best improvement category for specific energy consumption improvement
in the year 2006-07 and also own the coveted National Energy Conservation
Award for 2007 in Refinery Sector. The efforts of the refinery in meeting
the demands of oil products are especially significant and commendable. It
is imperative that all out efforts are put in to sustain enhanced productivity,
minimize costs and ensure safety.
Apart from making considerable profits
and contributing significantly to the economy of the country and to the region
in particular, the refinery has also been a role-model in terms of techno-economics,
sustainable production, plant innovation and minimizing pollution levels.
I am happy to note that Visakh Refinery plays a key role beyond the balance sheet
with a social dimension and is committed to the welfare of the society. It
gives me satisfaction that the refinery is endeavouring to improve the health
and quality of life of the rural population through various initiatives and
has identified thrust areas like primary education, health, sanitation, drinking
water facility, development of women and children etc.
The recent projects ‘UNNATI’ and ‘NANHIKALI’
which are aimed at providing educational and educational infrastructural facilities
are worth praiseworthy and laudable.
The Clean Fuels Project being implemented
for producing petrol meeting Euro-III/IV standards would in improving ambient
air quality through reduced vehicular pollution.
I am sure that the auspicious occasion
of the Golden Jubilee celebrations will give the refinery to introspect, recognize
the resolute effort of all the employees and stake holders and will motivate
the team to achieve glorious heights.
I
would again congratulate South Asia LPG for setting this path breaking facility
in India.
I also wish the ‘Team’ of Visakh
Refinery and citizens of Visakhapatnam
continued success and prosperity.”
RCJ/HPCL-visakh-LPGcavern&Golden
(Release ID :34605)