CALS Refineries Ltd., a publicly listed Spice Energy Group company, is currently implementing the construction of a 100,000 barrels per stream day refinery (Phase 1) at Haldia in West Bengal. The project involves the relocation of an existing refinery that belonged to Bayernoil (Ingolstadt, Germany), with additional units being procured from Petrocanada (Edmonton, Canada) and Kansas (Arc City, Texas, USA).
The management team for the project comprises of industry veterans such as Mr. M S Ramachandran (former Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Limited) and Mr. P N Devarajan (former Group President of Reliance Industries and Essar Oil). This US$1 billion project is being implemented at an extremely low cost and almost half the time compared to other Greenfield projects of similar size.
The project is well underway, and is being implemented in conjunction with industry-leading EPC contractors and technical partners from across the globe. The refinery is being upgraded to have a Nelson Complexity factor of 11.8, which shall allow for a multitude of Crude Oils to be processed, thereby giving flexibility in the refinery production slate, making it an extremely viable proposition.
Haldia provides the ideal location for the refinery due to its proximity to the Haldia port, availability of skilled labour at relatively lower cost, a readily available local market for certain products within the Haldia Petrochemical Zone, as well as easy access to major burgeoning markets in South East Asia and the Far East.
Cals Refineries Ltd. is targeting Q1, 2011 as its commercial production date for its Phase 1 refinery. The company also plans to implement an additional 100,000 barrels of capacity (Phase 2) through relocation of another refining unit to Haldia within six to twelve months of the completion of Phase 1. As part of its Phase 3, the company plans to build an additional capacity of 200,000 BPSD as a Grass-Root petrochemical refinery.
Company Website: www.cals.in