Reliance refutes gas crisis story

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Keywords: Fire, Jamnagar Refinery

Jamnagar/New Delhi: The Mukesh Ambani led Reliance group has refuted media reports about the possibility of LPG crisis in the country due to Wednesday's fire at its Jamnagar refinery.

Reliance Industries Ltd group president Parimal Nathwani said the company had not suffered any production loss due to the accident and a gas crisis was not likely in the near future, as only one fire-hit desulphurisation unit was out of action.

"Over 6, 000 metric tonnes were dispatched to GAIL (Gas Authority of India Limited) through pipeline last evening. 6,000 tonnes were dispatched via road. And we are dispatching some gas even today. There has been no production loss and I don't think there'll be any crisis of gas," Nathwani said.

A hydrotreater, or desulphurisation unit, at the refinery in Jamnagar caught fire on Wednesday morning. The fire was brought under control within two hours.

"It was only one unit which caught the fire - the VGO (Vacuum Gas Oil) unit. There are two more units so we can control production by reshuffling," he added.

Nathwani said a committee of experts had been set up to probe the cause of fire.

Concerned by the negative reports impact on the company's stakeholder, Reliance today made a categorical statement saying that the RIL Refinery has not been shutdown.

It also stated that with a normal average production rate of over 7,000 tonnes per day, all sales and other commitments of the RIL Refinery are being adhered to without any interruption at all.

The Jamnagar plant, which started up in mid-1999, is considered largest refinery in Asia. It accounts for nearly 24 per cent of country's refining capacity.