OIL India revamping pump stations in Assam at Rs.1,200 crore

Guwahati, Sep 28 (IANS) State-run explorer Oil India Ltd.(OIL) Saturday said it is investing Rs.1,200 crore to revamp pump stations of pipelines transporting crude oil to refineries in Assam.

"The pumping stations of the trunk pipeline have been operating for over five decades and a revamping of these pump stations is being undertaken at a cost of Rs.1,200 crore," OIL chairman S.K.Srivastava at the 55th Annual General Meeting in Duliajan.

A 1,157 km-long pipeline of 5.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity carries crude oil from the company’s fields in upper Assam to refineries at Numaligarh, Guwahati and Bongaigaon, OIL said in a statement.

Srivastava said crude oil and condensate production in fiscal 2013-14 was 3.502 MT as against 3.701 MT in 2012-13, while natural gas production in the last fiscal was 2,626 million metric standard cubic metres (MMSCM), which was almost same as in fiscal 2012-13 (2,639 MMSCM).

"The contribution to the state exchequer during the year (2013-14) was Rs.1,786 crore and that to the central government was Rs.4,154 crore," he said.

The turnover of the company stood at Rs.9,612.70 crore during the year in question as against Rs.9,947.57 crore in 2012-13. Profit after tax was Rs.2,981.30 crore in the last fiscal compared to Rs.3,589.34 crore during 2012-13.

During 2013-14, OIL provided subsidy discounts of Rs.8,736.85 crore, an increase of 10.7 percent compared to Rs.7,892.17 crore in 2012-13, to oil marketing companies to make up for losses on account of selling below cost.

OIL achieved natural gas production of 2,626 MMSCM from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan fields during 2013-14, Srivastava said.

"The present gas production potential is about 7.35 MMSCM per day from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh fields and about 0.70 MMSCM per day from the Rajasthan fields," he added.

OIL also made seven more hydrocarbon discoveries, six of which are in the upper Assam basin and one overseas in Gabon in west Africa.

The company’s portfolio comprises of 16 blocks and are spread over 10 countries — Libya, Gabon, Nigeria, Yemen, Venezuela, US, Mozambique, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Russia.