The ₹921 crore exclusive oil jetty of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) at the Kamarajar port in Ennore will be ready by December 2024. This will add 3 million tonnes of cargo per annum to the port, said Sunil Paliwal, Chairman, Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL).

At present, all the oil companies, including IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, Reliance, Shell and Nayara, are using the common oil jetty. However, IOCL will move from this common facility to its own oil jetty, he told businessline.

The dedicated jetty, being constructed adjacent to the northern breakwater, will help IOCL meet the growing demand of petroleum, oils and lubricants (POL), LPG products and lube oil base stock in bulk in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring States.

Further, the National Green Tribunal had asked IOCL to close the existing depots at Korukkupet and Tondiarpet in north Chennai. This has necessitated IOCL to construct the ₹829 crore POL pipelines in the common corridor for the grassroot terminal at Vallur, which is about 20 km from the port.

Pipelines are being laid to connect the IOCL jetty with Vallur terminal, which, in turn, will be connected with the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd in Manali Refinery, he said.

The beginnings

KPL signed a concession agreement with IOCL in 2016 for construction of a captive jetty at an investment of ₹465 crore. However, the project did not take off due to issues in locating the facility.

In 2019, KPL again signed the concession agreement with IOCL for construction of captive Jetty to handle POL and LPG products at a cost of ₹921 crore to handle 3 million tonnes of cargo per annum.

IOCL selected ITD Cementation Ltd, Mumbai, as the EPC contractor for jetty construction on January 31, 2022. KPL allotted the land portion, waterfront and right of wfor pipeline corridor to IOCL and declared the date of award of the concession from March 2, 2022. Construction works commenced from July 2022, he said.

The existing jetty (MLT-1) at Kamarajar Port is partly used by IOCL to an extent of throughput between 1.5 to 2.0 mtpa. The proposed captive oil jetty shall accommodate gas carriers and oil tankers for loading/unloading of LPG and POL products for a maximum throughput of 3 to 3.5 mtpa and the jetty has been designed for 5 mtpa.

IOCL will import/export POL and LPG using POL tankers of GT 45,000 (Long Range 1), which corresponds to tankers of size 50,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) to 80,000 (DWT); very large gas carriers of 45,000 GT (60,000 DWT).

The total design capacity of 5 mtpa at the proposed captive jetty can be divided into the two products - POL (3.30 mtpa) and LPG (1.70 mtpa), according to sources.

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