Jamnagar refinery

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 Moilbbl of oil per day, more than any other single location in the world.

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.

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 7500 acre 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.

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.

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. The refinery has been the destination of Russian shadow fleet vessels.

Labour and environmental issues

Labour issues

The Jamnagar Refinery has been the site of several incidents involving labour issues, worker fatalities, and unrest.

In September 2005, tensions between local villagers and workers at the 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.

In September 2015, a construction worker employed on an expansion project at the 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. While some sources reported that Reliance Industries stated the cause of death as a heart attack, others cited cardiac arrest as the official explanation. Tensions escalated when a team of Reliance officials visited the colony to investigate, prompting a violent reaction from some labourers. Believing the death to have resulted from an accident, two worker groups torched vehicles and engaged in stone-pelting. Authorities later stated that the death was likely due to natural causes or suicide. Police forces were deployed and used tear gas to control the situation. During the intervention, one person was killed.

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.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The Jamnagar refinery is the world's largest emitter among refineries. According to data from Climate TRACE, its greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 19.76 million tonnes in the year 2022.

References

References

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