IOC beats Reliance to become nation's No.1 refiner

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) surpassed Reliance Industries Ltd. to regain its position as nation's biggest refiner after it completed expansion of its Panipat unit. "We have this week completed expansion of our Panipat refinery (in Haryana) to 15 million tonnes (from 12 million tonnes)," IOC director (Refineries) B.N. Bankapur was quoted as saying. Before the expansion, IOC's eight refineries had a total crude oil refining capacity of 51.2 million tons a year. Together with its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd. (CPCL), it had a combined refining capacity of 61.7 million tons. After Panipat expansion, IOC group's refining capacity has increased to 64.7 million tons, ahead of 62 million tons of refining capacity that Reliance has at Jamnagar in Gujarat. IOC was the largest oil refiner in the country before Reliance started its 29 million tons a year only-for-exports unit adjacent to its 33 million tons a year plant at Jamnagar.