Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) completing its multi-billion-dollar expansion of largest operating refinery off-gas cracker (ROGC) world’s largest off-gas cracker facility at its Jamnagar complex. This has also doubled RIL’s ethylene production capacity, which is now close to 4 MMTPA at five of its manufacturing sites. RIL joins the distinguished league of top 5 petrochemical producers globally.

With this, Jamnagar in Gujarat has also become home to the world’s largest operating refinery off-gas cracker, RIL said in a statement.

RIL has successfully commissioned and achieved design throughput of the world’s first ever and largest ROGC complex of 1.5 MMTPA capacity along with downstream plants and utilities. The ROGC complex is a core component of RIL’s most innovative and world-scale J3 project at its integrated refinery-petrochemicals complex at Jamnagar.

With the commissioning of ROGC complex, the largest ever expansion of RIL’s petrochemicals portfolio comes to a flawless completion. This is one of the largest capital expenditure programme globally in the sector in recent times. It epitomises RIL’s core strategy of continuously pursuing opportunities for cost optimisation and efficiency enhancement through vertical integration across the value chain.

The ROGC complex has a unique configuration as it uses off-gases from RIL’s two refineries at Jamnagar as feedstock. This innovative approach of integration with refineries provides a sustainable cost advantage, making ROGC competitive with respect to the crackers in Middle-East and North America which have feedstock cost advantage.

ROGC is the latest addition to RIL’s existing cracker portfolio, consisting of cracker facilities at Nagothane in Maharashtra and Hazira, Dahej and Vadodara in Gujarat.

There are nearly 270 ethylene plants globally with a combined capacity of over 170 MMTPA. RIL’s combined ethylene capacity is now close to 4 MMTPA at five of its manufacturing sites. With ROGC and imported ethane, RIL has one of the most competitive and flexible cracker portfolio.

The ROGC complex is built in a record time with approximately 40 per cent lower capital cost compared to the similar projects globally. The unique configuration with sustainable cost advantage, competitive project schedule, lower capital cost and incident-free flawless start-up makes ROGC complex as one of the best executed project globally from concept to commissioning.

RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, said that the world’s first ROGC and downstream plants marks a paradigm shift in the profitability and sustainability of RIL’s petrochemicals business. The ROGC complex is built on our core philosophy of deep feedstock integration to establish industry leading cost and efficiency benchmarks. This world scale petrochemicals expansion, once again showcases RIL’s unique competitive advantage in efficient execution of complex projects and flawless commissioning capabilities, adding yet another jewel to its crown.

Commissioning of the ethylene plant integrates feedstock with the two refineries nearby, thus providing sustainable cost advantage to RIL over its global peers.

In 2014, the company had announced a $16 billion capex plan at Jamnagar.

Ethylene from the ROGC is used in downstream plants to produce mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) and polyethylene.

According to RIL, the facility is the world’s first ever and the largest refinery off-gas cracker complex of 1.5 mmtpa capacity along with downstream plants and utilities. This is the largest ever expansion of RIL’s petrochemicals portfolio, and is also the last leg of the multi-billion dollar capex cycle, which was also one the largest capex programmes globally in the sector in recent times.