Oil refiners adding renewable feedstock to produce cleaner fuels, executives say

Engineers India

14/02/2025 09:45

NEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Oil refiners are
increasing their efforts to blend renewable feedstocks such as
used cooking oil into their crude refining streams to meet
global demand for cleaner fuels.
    As a result, demand for catalysts and additives to remove
the impurities from bio-feedstock has risen, Maurits van Tol,
chief executive of catalyst technologies provider Johnson
Matthey, said on the sidelines of the India Energy Week
conference.
    "What we see is alternative feedstocks, the blending in of
some components with biomass background at refineries in the
last couple of years," he said.
    Demand for catalysts and additives is also getting a boost
from the widespread usage of cheaper heavy crude which harms the
units because of their higher sulphur content, van Tol said.
    
    PETROCHEMICALS
    Refineries are also pivoting towards making more
petrochemicals to offset lower transportation fuels demand from 
the growth of electric vehicles.
    "The configuration of new age refineries will have more
lighter products like gasoline and naphtha," said Vartika
Shukla, chairperson of state-run Engineers India.
    In India, Bharat Petroleum  BPCL.NS  targets increasing its
petrochemical output to more than 40% of its portfolio compared
with about 2%-3% at present through its new refinery in Southern
India, said Sanjay Khanna, the company's director of refineries.
    The company plans to build a new refinery with a capacity of
at least 180,000 barrels per day in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

 (Reporting by Mohi Narayan and Sethuraman NR; Editing by
Florence Tan and Christian Schmollinger)
 ((Mohi.Narayan@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/_mohi_;))