FB: Essar aims to lift heavy crude processing to 75 pct
By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) - Essar Oil aims to raise the share of heavy crude at its Vadinar refinery in western India to about 75 percent of the oil it processes from 70 percent, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
The share of light and sweet grades, which are more costly, was 30 percent in the April-June quarter, the same as previous quarter, but down from 40 percent in a year ago period, Naresh K Nayyar told an analysts call on Tuesday.
'We are actually trying to enhance this percentage (of heavy and sour crudes) to further optimise the crude mix... technically we can even push it close to 75 percent, anything between 75 and 76 percent,' Nayyar said.
But availability of heavy crude was constrained due to OPEC output restraints, he said.
In the quarter to June private company Essar processed more than 21 grades and expanded its slate to include some ultra heavy crudes like Ratawi and Eocene from the Gulf neutral zone, Angola's Kuito and Egypt's Ras Gharib.