India: RIL starts sourcing pet coke from IOCL from Jan'25

• RIL to uplift one-third of Koyali's output
  
  
• RIL's pet coke sales on pause since Dec'24
  
  

In a first, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has entered into an arrangement with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to source pet coke from the latter's Koyali refinery, which is the nearest one to RIL's Jamnagar facility.

RIL has started procuring pet coke from Koyali this month, with plans to uplift 6 rakes. Considering a volume of 3,600 tonnes (t) per rake, RIL's upliftment in January is expected to be approximately 22,000 t. Notably, IOCL Koyali produces pet coke to the tune of 70,000 t per month, and thus, RIL will be uplifting around one-third of Koyali's output.

Furthermore, RIL has stopped releasing pet coke to its customers, either directly or through distributors, from last month. In fact, RIL has also made an all-out effort to run its gasification units by sourcing pet coke from different modes and sources, including using its own production and importing or sourcing from other domestic manufacturers such as IOCL. The quantity varies depending on the actual operations of the gasification units.

Earlier too, RIL had approached three state-run oil marketing companies to buy pet coke from them to fire its gasifiers. However, ultimately, this did not take place for various reasons, including, reportedly, the companies decision to serve a larger basket of customers, such as the cement industry, which is a major consumer of pet coke.

Notably, RIL has always been the largest producer of pet coke in India. Subsequently, after the installation of gasification units, it became the largest consumer of pet coke in the country. The gasification units have gradually stabilised over the years and started consuming the maximum share of RIL's pet coke production.

As a result, RIL has reduced the volume available for selling to its customers, mostly the cement industry, to make pet coke available for its gasification units.

In fact, RIL has also started importing some amount to meet its needs. Occasionally, the company has exported some volumes to take advantage of an opportunistic pricing situation.

Overall, the entire production, consumption, import, export, and release of pet coke have been very dynamic in the last few years, depending upon the actual running of the gasification units.

Notably, RIL has 10 pet coke gasifiers, of which four are in domestic tariff areas (DTA) and the remaining six in the special economic zone refinery (Jamnagar). Each gasifier consumes 2,900 tonnes per day (tpd) of pet coke on a 100% pet coke basis. The gasifiers have the flexibility to use 100% pet coke or a mix of pet coke and coal, with the former constituting at least 65% of the feed. Notably, the quantity of pet coke needed is more than the total production of the same from RIL's DTA and SEZ refineries, which is approximately 7.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).