Petroleum Minister declares NRL as Model Refinery

GUWAHATI, April 17:  Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Petroleum and tural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan visited Numaligarh Refinery on Thursday  as part of his tour to oil installations in Assam including ONGC and OIL, stated a press release.

He was accompanied by Jorhat and Dibrugarh MPs, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and Rameswar Teli respectively. The dignitaries were received at the Refinery by a team of senior NRL officials led by MD,  P. Padmabhan. A presentation was made at the Main Control Room of the Refinery highlighting the performance of NRL and the road ahead.

Pradhan was highly appreciative of NRL’s performance and its achievements. He specially lauded NRL’s efforts towards identifying and adopting altertive energy in the context of its recent endeavor of  setting up  a bio-refinery to produce ethanol - the much valued  bio fuel. With this development, the esteemed delegation was of the opinion that NRL should become the energy hub of the North East.

Pradhan was also affirmative about the need for expansion of NRL’s capacity from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA and advised to put up the proposal for necessary approvals. He also desired that NRL be back into the business of Retail Marketing, which could earn rich dividends for the Company. Thereafter, the delegation was taken on a Refinery visit.

During the press interaction that followed the Refinery visit, the minister described NRL as a ‘model Refinery’ which could serve as a benchmark for emulation by others.

He also reiterated the need to expand the capacity of the Refinery in the near future. Later, the delegation was taken to the Butterfly Valley – a unique eco-system inside the township premises which hosts and preserves unique species of butterflies. The minister also planted a sampling at the adjacent ‘Smritibon’- a garden of medical plants to commemorate his visit to Numaligarh Refinery.