Petroleum Philately of India: Panipat Refinery

Panipat Refinery My Stamp of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

Petroleum: Formed millions of years ago, from organic matters, under the crust of earth, through natural high pressure and extreme temperature.  Archaeological findings indicate the use of raw petroleum in the days of Pharaohs. In twentieth century and till date, it has become a mighty industrial force to be reckoned with. Its application ranges from illumination to cooking to many others. The modern civilisation is catapulted by and also till date is driven by petroleum oil and its derivatives. Complex hydrocarbons are broken down through refining processes to produce petrol (gasoline), diesel (gas oil), naphtha, aviation fuel, and petrochemicals etc. Natural gas is also found along with petroleum deposits which serves both as fuel as well as feed-stock for several industries.

In recent times, petroleum has turned to be the cause of war and it also happened to be the main driving force of machineries of warfare. On one hand, it has provided several advantages to mankind say greater mobility etc., on the other hand it is the root cause of geopolitics and global warming. The worst part is that hydrocarbons being the chief constituents, it is primarily responsible for carbon emission.

Philately: A hobby of collection and study of postage stamps and allied materials.

Petroleum philately: A special branch of thematic or topical philately, which deals exclusively with petroleum related philatelic materials.

Petroleum philatelic materials: These are postage stamps, revenue stamps, souvenir/miniature sheets, mini-sheets, My Stamps, First Day Covers, Special Covers, aerograms, inland letters, postcards, picture postcards, labels/panes etc., and have images / pictures / sketches, postage marks, franking marks, logos, USPs, trademark etc., on petroleum oil, natural gas and petrochemicals. It spans entire value chain of petroleum industry ranging from prospecting, exploration and production, refining, storage and transportation, distribution and marketing, research and development, to the end-use. Under its gambit, there are personalities, ranging from scientists to industrialists to oil barons, related to the said industry, business and regulatory entities, and a much more. Related occupational hazards and safety issues are also included. Though last but not the least, oil conservation and concern for environment are featured too.

My Stamp: It is a personalised postage stamp issued by India Post. A sort of se-tenant type of pair where one part is the postage stamp and the selvage part may have a company's logo, picture etc. The face value of a stamp is INR 5. The price is INR 300 per mini sheet. One mini-sheet contains 12 stamps and they can be used by post. Any individual can have her/his My Stamp with photograph from India Post for INR 300. This was introduced during World Philatelic Exhibition (INDIPEX 2011) held in New Delhi during 12-18 February 2011. It has become popular for Indian corporate and business entities. For bulk order, the minimum number of My Stamp Sheets to be ordered is 5,000. Thus, the minimum cost for one corporate My Stamp is INR 1,500,000. However, it has caught the fancy of corporate houses as it is a great publicity material. So far, with the issue of about 225 My Stamps for various organisations, India Post has generated revenue worth nearly INR 340 million.

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The name of Panipat reminds one about the historical background of a location in India where three fierce battles were fought and which had changed the political course of the country.

The first battle of Panipat (Courtesy: Wikipedia & Baburnama)

The First Battle of Panipat was fought on 21 April 1526 between Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi, the Afgan ruler of Delhi sultanate and Babur, the aspiring fighter from Samarkand (present day Uzbekistan). According to Baburnama (the autobiography by Babur):

"By the grace of the Almighty God, this difficult task was made easy to me and that mighty army, in the space of a half a day was laid in dust."

That half day war ended the Lodhi rule in India and laid the foundation stone of Mughal empire by Babur.

The second battle of Panipat (Courtesy: Wikipedia & Akburnama)

The second battle at the plain land of Panipat was unfolded on 05 November 1556. It was between Akbar, the Mughal ruler, under the guidance of Bairam Khan and King Hemu who had a strong base in Bengal. In the battle, Hemu was killed and that ended the saga.

The third battle of Panipat (Courtesy: Wikipedia)

The third battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761.  It was the last military engagement at that place. A fierce battle unfolded between Maratha Confederacy and the attacking army of Durrani Empire. The Martha military was under the command of Sadashivrao Bhau. They faced the challenge of combined force of invading Afgans, Rohillas led by Abdali, Najib ad-Dawlah and Shuja-ud-Daula. In the battle, Maratha army was defeated.

Nearly 250 years later, at Panipat (though not exactly at the same battle ground), tall distillation columns and other paraphernalia of a very big refinery complex raised its head. A refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., of capacity of 6.0 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) made a humble beginning in the month of July 1998.

One of the approach roads

It was the seventh commissioned refinery (out of ten refineries) of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., located at a place precisely called Baholi, Panipat, in the state of Haryana, northern India. It is located approximately 120 km away from Delhi, the national capital of India. Today, rather than a refining plant, it is an integrated complex consisting of a refinery and petrochemical plants, spread over 4222 acres of land. The petroleum location is one of the biggest integrated refinery and petrochemical center in India and it is the third largest in South East Asia.

The flare of Panipat Refinery is visible in the background

With changing market dynamics, the company realigned its market strategy. It ventured into petrochemical business which was more lucrative than fuel business. Accordingly, PX-PTA units were commissioned in June 2006. The petrochemical complex produces PX (Paraxylene) and PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid). In the manufacturing process, Paraxylene is an intermediate product. This has wide application in the production of Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF), Polyester Filament Yarn (PFY) etc. Benzene is one of the by-products. 

A visit to Panipat Refinery on 16 September 2023

In the meantime, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., was facing a problem of disposal of surplus naphtha, produced by two hinterland refineries, located at Mathura and Panipat of nrothern India. After establishing itself in the petrochemical business, four years later in the year 2010, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., added one naphtha cracker plant and matching downstream petrochemical plants at Panipat refinery. On one hand it absorbed the surplus naphtha, at the same time started producing valuable petrochemical products like Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (LLDPE and HDPE), Butadiene, MEG etc. PTA and MEG (Mono Ethyl Glycol) are used for manufacturing of polyester yarn and PET bottles. These petrochemicals have huge market demand and that helped the company to shore up its bottom line. Butadiene is used for manufacturing of artificial rubber.

The centre that works behind the screen

Panipat refinery has configuration to process both domestic as well as imported crude oil. It receives imported crude oil from Vadinar, Gujarat through am underground cross-country Salaya – Mathura pipeline. 

Full sheet of My Stamp

Imported crude oil also arrives by Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) at Mundra port in the state of Gujarat and is discharged through Single Buoy Mooring (SBM). The imported crude intake is through a cross-country underground pipeline, originating from Mundra, Gujarat to the refinery at Panipat. The length of the crude pipeline is 1194 km. 

Receiving autographed My Stamp from Executive Director & Refinery Head, Panipat Refinery & Petrochemical Complex

The refinery also intakes R-LNG, for its captive power plant, through a dedicated pipeline from Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. The length and diameter of the pipeline are 140 km and 30 inches, respectively. Input at Dadri is from Bijapur-Dadri pipeline of GAIL (India) Ltd. Imported LNG is received at Dahej, a port in the state of Gujarat in the west coast of India. The imported R-LNG at Dahej feeds Bijapur through cross-country gas pipeline. 

The refining capacity of the refinery was enhanced from 6.0 MMTPA to 12 MMTPA in June 2006. The capacity was further expanded to 15 MMTPA (300,000 barrels per day or bpd) in December 2010, which is the present capacity of the refinery. In February 2021, the Board of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., approved the expansion of the capacity of the refinery from 15 MMTPA to 25 MMTPA (500,000 bpd), a 66.66% increase, which is slated to be completed by September 2024. The estimated cost of the ongoing expansion work is about $4.46 billion (329.46 billion INR).

The refinery at Panipat is crucial for northern and north-western states of India for meeting the demand of petroleum products. The refinery meets the demand of petroleum products not only for the state of Haryana where it is located but also that of the adjoining and nearby states viz., Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttaranchal, part of Rajasthan and Union Territory of Delhi. The supply and distribution of petroleum products from the refinery is done through all modes of transportation - road, railways and a complex network of underground cross-country pipelines.

The increased crude requirement of the expanded refinery would be made good through another new crude pipeline between Mundra and Panipat. The new crude oil pipeline will be also of 1194 km length and capacity 17.5 MMPTA (350,000 bpd) and matching additional tanks (60,000 KL X 9 tanks) at Mundra. 

The new project work is a strategy of the company to expand its presence in the domain of petrochemicals business and simultaneous de-risk its conventional fuel segment.

On successful completion of glorious 25 years, on the occasion of silver jubilee of the refinery, a My Stamp on Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex was released by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., on 12 July 2023. For India Post, in My Stamp series, this was 224th issue.

The story was published in popular philatelic e-magazine 'Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin' September 2023 issue. Scans of select pages are as under:

Cover Page

Index Page

This story was published in Winter 2024 issue of 'Petro-Philatelist', the Journal of International Petroleum Philately, a periodical of the Petroleum Philatelic Society International, U.K.,

Editor's Column

Cover page

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

Webliography:

https://iocl.com/pages/panipat-refinery

https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/iocl-panipat-refinery/

https://www.gem.wiki/Vijaipur-Dadri_Gas_Pipeline_(GREP-I)

Disclaimer:

The noble objective of this blog, is to promote the hobby of philately through images of stamps, a few pictures and related narration. The scans of My Stamp, featured in this blogpost are mine while others (sourced from internet) are the properties of their respective owners. No intention to infringe any type of copyright. 

The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only. All information is provided in good faith. This is only for sharing of knowledge of philately with philatelist fraternity of the world. No commercial or political angle, whatsoever, is involved. This is not a historical document. Apologies in advance, should there be any inadvertent mistake or error. Under no circumstances, I shall have any liability for reliance on any information provided in the story.

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