Media Release

Mangaluru, Apr 17: Coastal Karnataka based Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) is playing an active role in filling the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL) underground crude oil caverns in Mangaluru and Padur facilities.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Government of India, has mandated M/S ISPRL to work closely with Public sector oil companies, including MRPL, to achieve the target of filling up Mangaluru and Padur caverns by taking advantage of the prevailing very low crude oil prices in the international market.

The series of crude oil cargos of varying volumes from one million barrels to two million barrels being sourced by MRPL, IOCL and BPCL, will be unloaded in the Single Point Mooring (SPM) of MRPL falling under the jurisdiction of NMPT during the month of April and May 2020 before the onset of monsoon in the region.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had already informed through a tweet that it is going an extra mile to meet India’s energy security despite COVID-19 challenge. Crude oil cargoes, at low prices, are lined up to reach Mangalore port during April and early May to completely fill the Mangaluru and Padur SPR’s. 

MD MRPL M Venkatesh confirmed that the first consignment of two million barrels by MRPL and the second consignment of one million barrel by IOCL has already been successfully unloaded into the caverns. 

ISPRL has informed that taking advantage of the low crude oil prices, ISPRL has started filling India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves to enhance the energy security of the nation. MRPL, IOCL, BPCL and HPCL are associated in this exercise to fill the three SPR’s located at Vishakapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur. 

MRPL’s role is crucial in filling the 1.5 million metric ton facility in Mangaluru and 2.5 million metric ton facility at Padur as it extends its Single Point PM and booster station facilities for this activity. MRPLs SPM (Single Point Mooring) facility which is located 17 kilometres away from shore and within NMPT jurisdiction, in the Arabian Sea, will be utilised to pump crude oil from ships of different size including VLCC vessels (Very Large Crude Carriers).

Crude discharged from the ship through SPM and subsea pipeline (17 Km) reaches the MRPL booster station located at the landfall point. From the booster station, the crude is routed through the crude oil pipeline to Mangaluru ISPRL cavern located within MSEZL or through the booster pump to caverns located in Padur (Udupi district) which is around 30 km away.

Mangaluru Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) is Karnataka’s sole hydrocarbon refinery. MRPL is a central public sector organization under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas (MoPNG) and a subsidiary of ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation). MRPL constitutes 7 per cent of the Indian crude oil refining capacity and meeting the demand of state of Karnataka and neighbouring regions of border states.

MD MRPL M Venkatesh is thankful to state administration. District administration, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), MRPL employees, secondary workforce and all stakeholders in carrying out these essential and crucial operations, in the hour of crisis. MRPL is sustaining the Refinery operations at 50 per cent capacity to meet the critical demand of LPG and ensuring the availability of petrol and diesel as to all oil marketing companies in this hour of crisis.