The oil refinery is operated by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), an ONGC subsidiary.
The scope of the contract requires Yokogawa to upgrade the production control system to the standards defined in the Japanese-owned company’s VigilantPlant design concept; widespread deployment of its CENTUM CS 3000 R3 Foundation fieldbus-enabled digital plant control system, networked with key plant instrumentation including Yokogawa’s latest flowmeters, and differential pressure & pressure transmitters.
The upgrade project is scheduled for completion by July 2006, at which time Yokogawa says it will represent one of the largest refinery roll-outs of Foundation fieldbus in India.
This MRPL refinery is located in Mangalore, a city in southwest India, with a production capacity of 11.9million tons of petroleum per year. Last week, India’s Deccan Herald reported actual production at the MRPL refinery was 9.69 million tons of crude oil per year – just under 30% of India’s total crude oil production.
MRPL’s parent company ONGC is said to produce over 75% of India’s 34mtpa total crude oil production.
ONGC plans to set up new refineries; including an export-oriented refinery at Kakinada, which may be operated with MRPL.
ONGC also plans to build a 7.5mtpa refinery in partnership with the UK’s Cairn Energy in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, where the British firm has discovered 1.2 billion barrels of oil reserves.
The continued growth in India is considered second only to that of China, where companies such as Yokogawa are working hard to consolidate their technological and marketing presence.
Yokogawa says it is currently the third largest supplier of industrial automation in India; the company says it plans to become the world’s leading vendor by 2010 through aggressive pursuit of opportunities in China and India.
“We have been increasing the number of marketing staff and engineers in India. This effort to improve our responsiveness to customers has already borne some fruit. To become the world leader in the industrial automation business by the year 2010, we will continue to develop our international business proactively,” said Teruyoshi Minaki, director and executive vice president of Yokogawa’s International Business Headquarters in Japan and chairman of Yokogawa India Limited.
Yokogawa’s ability to provide control systems that ensure low-emission plants is a significant consideration for India’s energy market, which recognises the importance of implementing environmental controls as the industry continues its double-digit growth rate.
