Untitled - Bharat Petroleum

such as Feed Injection Technology (FIT), Riser
Termination Device (RTD), Reactor Stripper Packing, cold
wall riser, cold wall flue gas duct and cold wall Orifice
Chamber were implemented. With the completion of the
project, the refinery has commenced production of auto
fuels conforming to BS-II product specifications norms.
Kochi Refinery’s laboratory was accredited with ISO/
IEC: 17025 certification by the National Accreditation
Board for Testing. The laboratory has enrolled itself for
the SMPCS program for next year.
Kochi Refinery was awarded the International Safety
Rating System (ISRS) Level 8 by M/s Det Norske Veritas
AS. The Kerala Chapter of National Safety Council has
awarded the refinery the ‘Runner Up’ trophy for
outstanding performance in industrial safety among
large size chemical industries in Kerala. The refinery
has also given 100 % safety training to employees,
contractors, contract labours and supervisors.
At the refinery, around 13,700 MT of oil sludge was
processed and 3,875 MT of oil was recovered during
the year 2005-06. Conventional burners of the heater
EH1 were replaced with low Nox burners. An
impervious storage facility is being constructed for the
storage of oily sludge. Ground water reconnaissance
study was completed during the year. A detention pond
of capacity 1,20,000 KL was constructed to collect
storm water from various tank farms as a rain
harvesting initiative. Facilities are currently being
provided to use the water thus harvested as process
water for gardening and for fire fighting purposes.
The refinery also maintains an eco-park covering an area
of 5.5 acres of land in which varieties of plants and trees
were planted and maintained. The ecological park and the
treated effluent water bed attract different living species,
including certain seasonal migratory birds.
During the year, the refinery was conferred with the
following awards :
a) Three Star Export house status from Joint Director
General of Foreign Trade.
b) Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary award for Energy
Performance of Refineries.
c) OISD award for overall performance in safety.
d) FACT MKK Nayar Memorial productivity award.
A focused training on Role Management was organized
in the form of a 3-day workshop covering 29 middle/
senior level managers of Kochi Refinery. High quality
technical and behavioral training was imparted to a
total of 1455 refinery personnel.
One of the greatest challenges that the refining industry
is facing today is the need for large capital investment
for meeting increasingly stringent product quality
requirements. The demand for residual fuels like Fuel
Oil and Low Sulphur Heavy Stock (LSHS) is dwindling
on one hand, while the price differential between
heavier and lighter crude oil is widening. Keeping this
in view, BPC is embarking upon projects to produce
Euro-IV quality transport fuel and is also examining the
feasibility of upgrading the residue at the two refineries
to enhance profitability.
In order to benefit from Refinery-Petrochemical synergies,
Kochi Refinery is setting up a Chemical Grade
Propylene Recovery Unit. Project implementation is in
progress and is slated for completion by January 2008.
RETAIL
The fiscal year 2005-2006 was a testing year for the
industry. Spiralling crude prices, uncertainty over retail
price increases, erosion of margins, expansion and
consolidation of the business by private oil companies
and treading a fine line between profitability and market
share, brought into play business dynamics and
ushered in a new paradigm, bringing in new
experiences for the industry.
The Retail Business unit overcame stiff competition
and aggressive market tactics deployed by the
competition and was able to stem the initial slide by
retaining the second position in the retail fuels market
with sales of 11.61 MMT during 2005-2006. This
represents a loss of 4.52% over the volumes achieved
in 2004-05, which stood at 12.16 MMT. This is in line
with the performance of the industry as a whole.
The high point of the year for the Retail Business was
BPC being conferred the award of the Forecourt
Retailer of the Year 2005 by Images, the leading Retail
publishing house. The jury, while deciding on BPC as
the winner in this category, took into account BPC’s
unique bouquet of retail products and services and
particularly for “setting innovative trends in retailing”,
“providing increased value for money to its customers”
and “providing evidence of leadership in the field of
collaborative efforts for its retail operations.”
The emphasis during the year was on network expansion
with the commissioning of 902 retail outlets, representing
21% of the 4304 new retail outlets commissioned by the
industry during 2005-06. Numbers apart, the qualitative
aspect of the retail network continued to make BPC stand
out in the industry, with throughput per RO at 153 KL being
15% higher than that of other industry members. The year
also saw a significant increase in competition from private
sector players who have gained 10% of HSD and
4.6% MS market share.
Annual Report 2005-2006
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