The collapse of the Mumbai High processing platform throttles nearly 15 per cent of the country’s crude oil output for almost six months even as the two Mumbai refineries that it feeds crude to are down for a month because of floods.The platform, fixed to the seabed 80 metres below sea level, was commissioned in 1981. It was undergoing re-development at a cost of Rs 2,929 crore to double the crude processing capacity by December from a low of 70,000 barrels per day. It was currently processing 100,000 barrels per day, said sources.‘‘While exact estimates have not been made, production will certainly be affected,’’ says the Petroleum Ministry’s status report to the Prime Minister after today’s accident which gutted the platform.The platform gathers crude from over a dozen satellite wells, rids the crude of impurities, water and gas to ensure that the Mumbai High-Uran pipeline does not get corroded. Now with the platform destroyed in the fire, the crude flow to storage facility at Uran will receive oil only from a similar platform in Mumbai High South which outputs 140,000 barrels per day.For a month, though, the MHN accident won’t be felt at the refineries of Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp that had to stop production yesterday due to water logging following incessant rains in Mumbai. While BPCL has a 6.9 million tonnes per annum refinery, HPCL’s capacity is 5.5 million.But once these are back on stream, the two would have to cut back production due to the fall in availability of Mumbai High crude—a sweet grade that is good for producing less polluting petrol and diesel.The production loss will have to be made good either by importing crude or by buying cleaner automotive fuels from the international markets at a higher price.Getting back to normalcy in quick time would therefore be ONGC’s stiffest challenge considering it means a loss of two million tonnes for India in the six months.
