Indian ONGC bags contract for expansion of refinery in Sudan

KOLKATA, India, Sep 21, 2004 (PTI) — Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has bagged a contract from the Sudanese government for revamping and expansion of a refinery in that country, Chairman and Managing Director Subir Raha said here today.

ONGC has already prepared a project report for the expansion of the refinery whose present capacity is three million tonne, he told reporters.

To a question, he said the operating and marketing rights of the refinery would remain with the Sudanese government.

ONGC would also lay an oil pipeline in Sudan and the work would begin in the next few weeks, he said.

To another question Raha said that ONGC’s plan to diversify in the downstream has not been shelved and the company would come into retail business by 2004-05.

“Earlier, we have set a target of 2003-04 to make a foray into the retail business but now we have revised our target. Both ONGC and its subsidiary MRPL have got the license for going into the retail business.” ONGC and MRPL together produce 15 per cent of the country’s total finished products, he said.

He said that ONGC would also come into aviation turbine fuel once it received approval from the DGCA.