Jamnagar Refinery
 The Jamnagar Refinery at night | |
  Location of Lamba Refinery in Gujarat | |
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| State | Gujarat |
| City | Motikhavdi, Jamnagar |
| Coordinates | 22°20′53″N 69°52′8″E / 22.34806°N 69.86889°E |
| Refinery details | |
| Owner(s) | Reliance Industries Limited |
| Commissioned | 14 July 1999 |
| Capacity | 18,400,000 bbl/d (2,930,000 m3/d) |
| Complexity index | 21.1[1] |
The Jamnagar Refinery is a private sector crude oil refinery owned by Reliance Industries in Motikhavdi, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. The refinery was commissioned on 14 July 1999 with an initial installed capacity of 668,000 barrels per day (106,200 m3/d). Its current installed capacity after expansion is 1,240,000 barrels per day (197,000 m3/d).[2] It is currently the largest oil refinery in the world.[3]
History
On 25 December 2001, Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) announced the commissioning of its refinery into a Special Economic Zone in Jamnagar district of Gujarat, India. The completion of the RPL refinery has enabled Jamnagar to emerge as a 'Refinery land', housing the world's largest refining complex with an aggregate refining capacity of 1.24 million barrels (197,000 m3) of oil per day, more than any other single location in the world.[4]
The globally competitive RPL refinery was commissioned in 36 months. RPL contracted several companies having expertise in engineering construction and refining like Bechtel, UOP LLC and Foster Wheeler (multinational corporation) amongst others. There were plans for the pipeline to process High Pour Point crude oil extracted at Barmer, Rajasthan, although this would require an electrically heated traced pipeline to be set up from Barmer to Jamnagar.[5]
The entire complex, as of 2013, consists of manufacturing and allied facilities, utilities, off-sites, port facilities and a township (415 acres) with housing for its 2,500 employees, on over 7,500 acres (3,000 ha; 11.7 sq mi) of land. If all of the pipes used in the refinery were laid out, one after another, they would connect the whole of India from north to south.[6][7]
Export expansion
In 2019, during the COVID-19 pandemic the domestic demand for polymer strongly declined in India. As a result, in order to keep production and sales running, Reliance Industries Limited management decided to refocus the production of polymer on export markets. With the help of the Maersk shipping and logistics group, exports from the Jamnagar Refinery were quadrupled to over 10,000 x 40' containers, which transported and exported through Port Pipavav.[8]
Following sanctions imposed on Russia by mainly Western countries, but not by India, the Jamnagar refinery was one of the main refiners exporting oil products made from Russian oil to sanctioning nations.[9] The refinery has been the destination of Russian shadow fleet vessels.[10]
Labour issues
The Jamnagar Refinery has been the site of several incidents involving labour issues, worker fatalities, and unrest.[11][12][13]
In September 2005, tensions between local villagers and workers at the Reliance Jamnagar Refinery escalated into violent clashes following a dispute over access to water, with the unrest spilling over to the nearby Essar Oil Refinery. The unrest was rooted in growing local resentment over the arrival of approximately 10,000 migrant labourers from Indian states such as Odisha, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, working under precarious contracts. In response, village leaders forced their relocation to worker camps constructed by Reliance and Essar. The situation culminated in violent confrontations involving an estimated 5,000 workers and villagers.[14]
In September 2015, a construction worker employed on an expansion project at the Jamnagar refinery complex was found dead, hanging in a room within a labour colony near the site. The colony, which accommodated over 50,000 migrant workers, became the focus of unrest following the incident.[12] While some sources reported that Reliance Industries stated the cause of death as a heart attack,[12][15] others cited cardiac arrest as the official explanation.[11] Tensions escalated when a team of Reliance officials visited the colony to investigate, prompting a violent reaction from some labourers.[15] Believing the death to have resulted from an accident, two worker groups torched vehicles and engaged in stone-pelting.[16] Authorities later stated that the death was likely due to natural causes or suicide.[11] Police forces were deployed and used tear gas to control the situation. During the intervention, one person was killed.[12]
ln November 2016, a flash fire in the refinery complex led to the death of two workers alongside six others sustaining burn injuries. However, the operations of the refinery continued to be normal.[13][17][18]
See also
References
- ^ "Integrated Annual Report 2018-2019" (PDF). Reliance Industries Limited. 2019.
Jamnagar site has a complexity index of 21.1
- ^ "Petroleum Refining & Marketing".
- ^ "Reliance commissions world's biggest refinery". The Indian Express. 26 December 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Growth through Energy Products". Archived from the original on 27 February 2007.
- ^ "Cairn India starts work on Barmer-Jamnagar pipeline project". www.projectstoday.com. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ "RIL's Jamnagar Refinery Listed Among The World's Top Five Refineries". Archived from the original on 6 June 2013.
- ^ "About Jamnagar" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2011.
- ^ "Keeping supply chains moving during COVID-19". Maersk. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "India exported USD 6.65 bn oil products derived from Russian oil to sanctioning nations: Report - ET EnergyWorld". ETEnergyworld.com. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ "China and India snub EU and UK sanctions as record volumes of Russia oil shipped on 'dark' or designated tankers". Lloyd's List. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ a b c "Labourer's death sparks violence at RIL's Jamnagar plant". The Indian Express. 18 September 2015. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d "One killed in police firing after violence at RIL refinery". The Times of India. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Two workers killed, 6 injured in fire at Reliance's Jamnagar refinery". India TV. 24 November 2016. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016.
- ^ Trivedi, Kamlesh; Bhayani, Himanshu (14 June 2013). "Reliance staff, villagers clash". Business Standard.
- ^ a b "Worker's death sparks violence near RIL's Jamnagar complex". Business Standard. 17 September 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016.
- ^ "Labourers clash within RIL colony in Jamnagar". Business Standard. 17 September 2015. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Two dead, 6 injured in Reliance refinery fire". The Times of India. 25 November 2016.
- ^ S, Rajalakshmi. "Fire at RIL Jamnagar refinery leaves 2 dead, 6 injured". Business Line. Archived from the original on 16 April 2025.
