Saudi-UAE mega oil refinery in India to cost $70bn

• The amount is nearly twice the amount initially estimated of $44 billion.
• The refinery named Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), was announced in December 2015, and is to be commissioned by 2025.

The behemoth refinery complex to be built by Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in Indian state of Maharashtra is expected to cost a whooping $70 billion.

The amount is nearly twice the amount initially estimated at $44 billion. The new mega crude refinery with a capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day, integrated with a modern petrochemical complex in the state of Maharashtra in western India, would secure the supply of at least 600 thousand barrels per day of Saudi crude oil And UAE for Indian market with high conversion rate for chemicals, stated UAE state news agency Wam in a statement.

Last month, the Indian petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan revised upwards the cost of the refinery to more than the initial estimate of $44bn.

The project, named Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), was announced in December 2015, and is to be commissioned by 2025.

With a 60 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity, RRPCL is a joint venture comprising the oil giant Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), and three Indian state-owned oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).

Saudi Aramco and Adnoc will jointly own 50% of the refinery, with the remaining 50% being owned by the Indian oil companies.