India is the fourth largest refiner of crude oil and the third largest consumer of crude oil in the world. Hence, it’s natural that the country would have a superb network of oil refineries. As a matter of fact, India is home to some 23 oil refineries spread across the country. These oil refineries are based offshore as well as onshore. Ranking among these are the fifth and sixth largest refineries in the world as well.

In this article, I will be highlighting some of the facets of crude oil consumption in India and the number of oil refineries in the country.

India’s Oil Wealth

According to various sources, crude oil reserves of India stood at around 620 million tons in 2019. These are mainly in offshore oil fields in the Arabian Sea and onshore reserves in Assam and Rajasthan. However, the country also imports around 75 percent of its total oil from countries in the Middle East and other places in the world.

In India, most petroleum companies are in the Public Sector.

However, in recent years, a few private sector companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) and Essar Energy have entered the energy field.

RIL's existing 34 MMTPA Jamnagar oil refinery is the fifth largest oil refinery in the world. while RPL's Jamnagar refinery is said to be the the sixth largest in the world

India also produced 34.2 million tons of crude oil in 2018-19. Offshore and onshore fields produced 16.9 and 17.3 million tons respectively.

Onshore oil is mainly produced in Assam and Gujarat. RIL and RPL announced a merger of the two companies in 2009 positioning the company as the 13th largest oil refiner in the world. Indian Oil, India's second largest oil refining company, is ranked 19th globally.

India's oil refining capacity amounted to 249 Million Metric Ton Per Annum (MTPA) in 2018-2019, ranking India as the fourth largest in the world after the US, China and Russia. Total refined crude output was 257 million tons in 2018-19 which is over 100 percent of installed annual capacity.

List of Oil Refineries in India

Below is a chart that shows all the 23 oil refineries across India and their owners. As you can see, most of the oil refineries in India are owned by the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Some are owned by private players in the energy sector while the state governments are joint stakeholders in a few.

No	Refinery	Owner	Sector	Location	State	Capacity
1	Jamnagar Refinery	RIL (Exports)	Private	Jamnagar	Gujarat	35.4 MTPA
2	Jamnagar Refinery	RIL (Domestic)	Private	Jamnagar	Gujarat	33 MTPA
3	Essar Refinery	Essar Energy Ltd	Private	Vadinar	Gujarat	20 MTPA
4	Kochi Refinery	Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Kochi	Kerala	15.5 MTPA
5	Mangalore Refinery	ONGC	Public	Mangalore	Karnataka	15 MTPA
6	Paradip Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Paradip	Odisha	15 MTPA
7	Panipat Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Panipat	Haryana	15 MTPA
8	Gujarat Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Vadodara	Gujarat	13.7 MTPA
9	Mumbai Refinery	Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Mumbai	Maharashtra	12 MTPA
10	Guru Gobind Singh Refinery	Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Bathinda	Punjab	11.3 MTPA
11	Manali Refinery	Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	10.5 MTPA
12	Vishakapatnam Refinery	Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Vishakapatnam	Andhra Pradesh	8.3 MTPA
13	Mathura Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Mathura	Uttar Pradesh	8 MTPA
14	Haldia Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Haldia	West Bengal	8 MTPA
15	Bina Refinery	Bharat-Oman Refinery Ltd	Public	Bina	Madhya Pradesh	7.8 MTPA
16	Mumbai Refinery	Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Mumbai	Maharashtra	7.5 MTPA
17	Barauni Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Barauni	Bihar	6 MTPA
18	Numaligarh Refinery	Oil India Corporation & Government of Assam	Public	Numaligarh	Assam	3 MTPA
19	Bongaigaon Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Bongaigaon	Assam	2.35 MTPA
20	Guwahati Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Guwahati	Assam	1 MTPA
21	Nagapattnam Refinery	Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Public	Nagapattnam	Tamil Nadu	1 MTPA
22	Digboi Refinery	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	Public	Digboi	Assam	0.65 MTPA
23	Tatipaka Refinery	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation	Public	Tatipaka	Andhra Pradesh	0.07 MTPA

This chart shows the 23 oil refineries in India, along with their annual capacities, location and owning companies. Most of the oil refineries in India are owned and operated by the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation owning some, alongside other players in the energy sector.

Overview of India’s Oil Refineries

India has 18 public sector refineries, as we can see from the above chart. Then we also have fiv and five refineries in the private sector or as a Joint Venture.

There’s a proposal to build three new refineries at Paradip in Odisha, Bina in Madhya Pradesh and Bhatinda in Punjab or increase their production capacities.

The Digboi Refinery operated by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is the oldest of its kind in Asia.

As the Indian government opens up more and more oil and gas fields for exploration under the New Exploration Licensing Policy or NELP, we can see some more oil refineries coming up in different parts of the country within the next foreseeable future.

India depends heavily on imported crude to meet demands for its domestic consumption of petroleum products. The NELP is expected to boost local drilling and refining of crude oil in India and help the country save on precious foreign exchange it spends on oil imports.

In Conclusion

These 23 oil refineries in India are serving the countries needs for domestically refined crude oil and petroleum products. As the demand continues to surge, we could expect some of these refineries to be expanded to meet the growing needs for petroleum products in India. Additionally, more private sector companies are expected to enter the industry as the government opens the sector to non-public sector players. As one of the largest consumers of crude oil and petroleum products in the world, it’s natural that India’s oil refining industry is set to grow.

For more details checkout also here :- https://www.bharatpetroleum.in/our-businesses/refineries.aspx