BPCL eyes share in RIL pipeline; IOC says no

Indian Oil Corp is unlikely to bid for a share in six new pipelines being built by Reliance Industries to transport fuel from its refinery to its planned chain of petrol stations.

But Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is keen on taking a quarter of the capacity in either of the two pipelines linking RIL's Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat to north India.

"IOC has adequate pipeline infrastructure throughout the country. All refineries are well connected to fuel consumption centres and as such we do not require a share in any other pipeline," senior IOC officials said.

"We had a deficit in south and to meet that we are building a pipeline from Chennai to Madurai. Elsewhere, IOC needed a pipeline to central India, but since the expansion of our Koyali refinery was not happening, it too is not a pressing requirement," they said.

Senior BPCL officials said the company was exploring whether to take a share in RIL's proposed 2,540-km pipeline to Kanpur and 1,580-km pipeline to Patiala.

It is also looking for participating in a pipeline feeding products into Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and southern Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

Reliance plans to spend over Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) on a 5,895-km network of six pipelines being built under the 'common carrier principle' under which a quarter of the capacity is offered to other companies.

Besides the pipeline to Patiala and Kanpur, shorter pipelines are proposed to be built to take products to interior areas from the port towns of Goa, Chennai and Kakinada in the south and Haldia in the east.

BPCL officials said the company needed pipelines to move petroleum products to the north and central India.

"RIL's Jamnagar-Patiala and Jamnagar-Kanpur pipelines look attractive and we will explore if we can get a share," they said.

For central India, BPCL had teamed up with IOC, RIL and Essar Oil for the Central India Pipeline Project that stretched from Gujarat to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur in Maharashtra.

"But since their are issues in implementation of the project, BPCL is extending the Mumbai-Manmad pipeline up to Indore," they said adding the company still needed a vehicle for tapping the Vidarbha region.

Gas Transportation and Infrastructure Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL, has proposed to build the Rs 1,640 crore (Rs 16.40 billion) Jamnagar-Patiala pipeline, Rs 1,780 crore (Rs 17.80 billion) Jamnagar-Kanpur pipeline, Rs 460 crore (Rs 4.60 billion) Goa-Hyderabad pipeline, Rs 325 crore (Rs 3.25 billion) Chennai-Bangalore pipeline, Rs 110 crore (Rs 1.10 billion) Kakinada-Vijayawada pipeline and Rs 260 crore (Rs 2.60 billion) Haldia-Ranchi pipeline in 36 months.

Sources said RIL has called for expressions of interest from parties interested in sharing the 25 per cent excess capacity in the six pipelines by first week of October.