Crude oil plays a very important part in the economy of any
country. Since crude was first discovered in 1858 and refined in
1859, the dependence on petroleum can be seen everywhere. We
require gasoline or petrol for powering everything from small
mopeds to large aircraft, battle tanks to intercontinental ships.
Even at homes, people use kerosene to power stoves and lamps.
Additionally, crude oil derivatives such as petroleum jelly and
others are used to make cosmetics, hair and skincare lotions and
creams as well as some medical preparations. Paints and lots of
other products that we use daily are made from materials or
byproducts found by processing crude oil.
The Indian economy depends heavily on crude oil and its
processing. In fact, India is the fourth largest refiner of crude oil
and ranks only behind the US, Russia and China. Refineries in
India have a combined capacity to process some 248.9Million
Metric Tons Per Annum. This volume is fairly sufficient to meet
domestic demands as well as for some exports.
The oil and gas sector in India also contributes some eight
percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India and
provides formal and informal employment to over two million
people in the country.
Surely, you would be awestruck by these figures. Therefore, it’s
also worth knowing which are the top crude oil processing
companies in India because they’re also some of the largest
players in the energy sector in the world.
Top Crude Oil Processers in India
India has come a long way since crude oil was first discovered in
this country in Assam in 1889 near Digboi and refining began a
year later. In those days, crude oil processing was largely the
monopoly of British companies and a few other foreign players.
The petroleum sector was mainly in the hands of foreign
companies even after independence in 1947, with only a couple
of Indian government organizations operating in the sector.
However, the scenario changed in 1991 following the
liberalization of the petroleum and energy sectors by the Indian
government. This paved way for several state-owned and private
players to emerge in the crude oil processing sector.
Here’s a list of the topmost companies that process crude oil in
India. They process both imported crude oil as well as the one
from Indian oil wells.
Reliance Industries Ltd
Reliance Industries Ltd operates the largest crude oil processing
refinery in Jamnagar in Gujarat. In fact, RIL’s Jamnagar refinery is
the largest in the world and has a capacity to process some
1.24Million Barrels Per Day. This is a private sector refinery in
India.
Nayara Energy Ltd
The Vadinar Refinery owned by private sector company, Nayara
Energy Ltd, is said to be the second largest crude oil processor in
the country. It has a capacity to process some 20Million Tons Per
Day of crude oil from Indian and foreign sources. This refinery is
also located in the Gujarat state of India.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd
The Kochi refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is the third
largest processor of crude oil in India. It is the largest crude oil
refinery owned by any public sector company in India and has a
capacity to process some 15.5Million Tons Per Annum. It is also
the largest crude oil refinery in South India.
Closing Thoughts
In addition to these top three refineries, there’re some 20 more
crude oil processing units in India. These are located in various
states and owned by the private sector or Indian government
enterprises. Indian government companies include Oil India Ltd,
Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Hindustan Petroleum Ltd and
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, and subsidiaries.