India’s ever increasing oil demand attracts Iran investment

Iran will invest about Rs 1,500 crore to expand a refinery run by Chennai Petroleum Corp., the company’s managing director said, amid U.S. sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation that have severely hit its oil exports. The state-run company is boosting capacity at its Nagapattinam facility by nine-fold to process 9 million tons per year and the investment is NaftiranIntertrade Co.’s share of the Rs 27,500 crore ($4 billion) expansion plan, Managing Director S.N. Pandey said in an interview in Chennai last week. The rest of the investment will be through debt and equity, including fresh capital from its main founder Indian Oil Corp. “We will achieve the financial closure in 2019,” Pandey said. “We don’t see any issue in debt raising. We have already talked to many bankers.” Surging demand in India prompted Russia’s Rosneft Oil Co. PJSC to acquire a private refiner in 2017, while Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. have committed investments in a proposed plant as the nation adds capacities to fulfil fuel consumption needs across the nation.