Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) was incorporated in October 24th of the year 2005, promoted by Reliance Industries Limited. RPL is subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited and also benefits from a strategic alliance with Chevron India Holdings Pte Limited, Singapore (wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation USA (Chevron)). RPL was set up with the objective of creating significant value by harnessing the emerging opportunities in the global energy sector, arising out of several years of under investment in refining capacity. The Company is setting up a 580,000 barrels of crude oil per stream day (BPSD) greenfield petroleum refinery and 0.9 million tonnes per annum polypropylene plant in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Jamnagar. The refinery and petrochemical complex is being set up at a capital cost of Rs. 27,000 crores.
The Registered Office of the Company has been shifted from the State of Maharashtra to the State of Gujarat in March of the year 2006. RPL entered the capital market with an IPO of 135 crore-equity shares of Rs.10 each on April 2006. In a landmark development during the fiscal year 2006-2007, RIL and Chevron embarked on a strategic partnership in RPL with a view to optimally leverage mutual strengths and exchange best values. Through a well-executed global syndication, RPL raised foreign currency loans of US$ 2.0 billion, making it the 'largest foreign currency financing for any single project from India'. The company received numerous awards from its inception, Asian Petrochemical Deal of the Year for 2006 and Asia-Pacific Oil & Gas Deal of the Year for 2006 both from Project Finance International. Also received the Best Syndicated Loan from The Asset.
The Company has made substantial progress during the year 2007-08 in implementation of its large and complex refinery, being built at Jamnagar in Gujarat on the west coast of India. RPL has set a blistering pace on all fronts and achieved 90% overall progress in implementation of its world-class, complex refinery. The RPL refinery is located adjacent to the existing refinery and petrochemicals complex of RIL, which is amongst the largest and most efficient in the world, thus offering significant synergies. Through exchange of best practices and leveraging mutual strengths, RPL will gain significantly in the areas of Operational Efficiency, Logistics, Cost Effective Crude Sourcing, Optimised Product Placement and Risk Management. The overall project progress catapulted from about 50% to 90% during the year2007-08. In doing so, the Company has surpassed several significant milestones, including completion of engineering, procurement and contracting activities as well as substantial completion of equipment deliveries and their installation at site.
On completion, the RPL refinery will be the sixth largest in the world with a Nelson Complexity Index of 14.0, which is the highest amongst similar large refineries in the world. The company will start its refinery process in December of the year 2008; RPL will refine and redefine success.