Praxair to Build and Operate Hydrogen & Nitrogen System for New Indian Oil Refinery
November 16, 2009
DANBURY, Conn., November 16, 2009 — Praxair, Inc. has received a major order from the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. for the long-term supply of hydrogen and nitrogen gases to its new 300,000 barrels per day greenfield oil refinery which is being built at Paradip, Orissa on the eastern coast of India.
Praxair will build a 90 million standard cubic feet per day hydrogen plant and a 500 tons per day nitrogen plant at the Paradip refinery. Start-ups of the plants are scheduled for the first quarter of 2012 when the refinery will be commissioned.
Indian Oil’s refinery will use the hydrogen to enable the processing of various crude oil slates and the production of low sulfur, clean fuels.
“This business agreement with Praxair is consistent with Indian Oil’s strategy to outsource non-core operations to experienced global partners who can bring value to our refinery projects through their operational expertise,” said Indian Oil’s Director (Refineries) Mr. B.N. Bankapur. “IndianOil selected Praxair after a global competitive bidding process and we are confident that Praxair, with its long experience in supporting the refining industry, will provide us with safe, reliable and efficient operations,” Mr. Bankapur added.
“We are delighted to be partnering with IndianOil on its new, prestigious refinery project at Paradip,” said Mr. Joe Cappello, president of Praxair Asia. “Using state-of-the-art technology, Praxair is committed to playing a significant role in helping the refining industry globally to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations for transportation fuels today and in the future,” Mr. Cappello added.
IndianOil is augmenting its existing refining capacity by setting up the 300,000 barrels per day refinery at Paradip at a cost of about U.S. $6.5 billion. This will help meet the burgeoning energy demands of primarily the Indian domestic market and partly the South-East Asian export market expected in the near future.
This is the largest investment of India’s leading “Fortune 500” company on a single project. The new refinery is designed to process lower-cost high-sulfur and heavy crude oil. With the completion of the Paradip refinery and other capacity expansions, Indian Oil’s refining capacity including subsidiaries will increase to more than 1.62 million barrels per day by 2011-12 from its current 1.2 million barrels per day.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India’s flagship national oil company and its downstream petroleum major. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise with more than $60 billion in annual sales and is ranked #105 on the FORTUNE “Global 500” listing. More information on Indian Oil is available on the Internet at www.iocl.com.
About Praxair India
Praxair India, with headquarters in Bangalore, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. and started operations in India in 1996. More information is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.in.
About Praxair
Praxair, Inc. (NYSE:PX) is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2008 sales of $10.8 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies bring productivity and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others.