Reliance Industries will import 1.6 million tonnes of ethane from the US in the current fiscal to replace natural gas and naphtha as feedstock at its petrochemical plants, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Use of ethane, a natural gas component that is expected to be produced in large volumes in North America after the shale gas revolution, will reduce company's petrochemicals feedstock cost by about 30 per cent, RIl COO for Petrochemicals Business Vipul Shah told reporters here.
The company has begun receiving consignment or cargo of ethane from US. Very large Ethane Carriers (VlECs) are used to transport liquefied ethane from the US to the Gujarat Chemical Port Terminal Company ltd terminal at Dahej, Gujarat. “RIl has become the biggest importer of ethane from USA in 2017,” he said, adding that using ethane would increase its petrochemicals operating profit by $300 million a year.