IOC to build more oil tanks at Mundra port

New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, will build nine more storage tanks to stock additional 10 million tonnes of crude oil at Adani group-operated Mundra port in Gujarat.

"Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has signed an agreement with IOC towards augmentation of IOC's crude oil volumes at Mundra," the Adani group firm said in a statement.

IOC will expand its existing crude oil tank farm at APSEZ's Mundra Port, thus enabling it to handle and blend additional 10 million tonnes of crude oil at Mundra.

"This will support IOC's expansion of its Panipat refinery in Haryana," the statement said.

IOC is raising the capacity at its Panipat refinery to 25 million tonnes per annum from the current 15 million tonnes to meet India's rapidly growing energy requirements.

"Mundra Port is a major economic gateway that serves the northern hinterland of India by providing multimodal connectivity. It gives us immense pride to strengthen our partnership further and support IOC, which plays a vital role in ensuring the energy security of the nation," said Karan Adani, CEO of APSEZ.

APSEZ, he said, is well equipped to handle the additional 10 million tonnes of crude oil at its existing single buoy mooring (SBM) at Mundra.

IOC, which controls a little less than half of the country's fuel market, has a capacity to refine 80.55 million tonnes of crude oil per annum into fuel. It has over 15,000 kilometres of pipeline network. Part of IOC's current crude oil requirement of 15 million tones for its Panipat Refinery is handled at the SBM at Mundra Port.