Reliance Industries commissions world's largest ROGC complex at Jamnagar

Reliance Industries today said it has commissioned the world's largest refinery off-gas cracker (ROGC) complex at Jamnagar which will use refinery process residue to produce feedstock used to make petrochemicals.

The ROGC is part of the USD 11 billion capital expenditure RIL had announced in one of the largest brownfield expansion of energy and petrochemical projects globally.

In a press statement, RIL said it has "successfully commissioned and achieved design throughput of the world's first ever and largest ROGC complex of 1.5 million tonnes per annum capacity along with downstream plants and utilities."

ROGC uses off-gases from RIL's two refineries at Jamnagar as feedstock.

"This innovative approach of integration with refineries provides a sustainable cost advantage, making ROGC competitive with respect to the crackers in the Middle East and North America which have feedstock cost advantage," the statement said.

The ROGC design is highly flexible and energy efficient. It is the latest addition to RIL's existing cracker portfolio, consisting of cracker facilities at Nagothane in Maharashtra and Hazira, Dahej and Vadodara in Gujarat.

There are nearly 270 ethylene plants globally with a combined capacity of over 170 million tonnes per annum. RIL's combined ethylene capacity is now close to 4 million tonnes a year at five of its manufacturing sites.

Ethylene from ROGC is used in downstream plants to produce Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) and Polyethylene (LLDPE and LDPE). Similarly, Propylene from ROGC has enhanced the output of the existing Polypropylene (PP) plants at Jamnagar complex to produce high-value co-polymers.

"The commissioning of MEG plant marks the completion of the all-round expansion of the polyester value chain post successful commissioning of Para-Xylene (PX), Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), Polyester filament and Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) plants over last 3 years," RIL said.

With the commissioning of LLDPE and LDPE plants at Jamnagar along with its existing PE plants at other manufacturing sites, RIL has the capability to produce the entire range of PE grades covering all end-users in the Indian market.

RIL said the ROGC complex was built in a record time with about 40 percent lower capital cost compared to the similar projects globally.

RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said: "The world's first ROGC and downstream plants marks a paradigm shift in the profitability and sustainability of RIL's petrochemicals business."

The ROGC complex is built on the core philosophy of deep feedstock integration to establish industry leading cost and efficiency benchmarks.

"This world-scale petrochemicals expansion, once again showcases RIL's unique competitive advantage in efficient execution of complex projects and flawless commissioning capabilities, adding yet another jewel to its crown," he added.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.