BPCL - A profile

Driving India into the Future
Bharat Petroleum traces its history to 1928 when the Burmah Shell Oil Storage & Distribution Company of India was incorporated in England to enter the petroleum products business in India. The business of the Company grew substantially given the international backing of Shell and it achieved the leadership position in India. In 1952, Shell and Burmah Oil Company set up Burmah Shell Refineries Limited to set up a refinery at Mahul in Bombay (Now called Mumbai).
The entire operations of Burmah Shell in India were nationalised in 1976 and the Refinery and Marketing Companies were merged to form Bharat Petroleum.
Today Bharat Petroleum is a downstream oil refining and marketing company with present revenues in excess of Rs. 20600 crores. We are India's second largest oil company in terms of market share. Bharat Petroleum is a premier company that has Navratna status by the Government of India.
Bharat Petroleum's network is spread all over India. From LPG and Kerosene for domestic consumption, to automotive fuels and lubricants for vehicles, to feedstock and fuels for industrial applications, Bharat Petroleum touches the lives of 700 million Indians in some way every day. Bharat Petroleum also manufactures and markets petrochemicals like Benzene, Toluene and LAB feedstock and has recently started manufacturing MTBE, an additive for Unleaded Gasoline.
Refinery
The BPCL Refinery in Mumbai is one of the most modern and environment friendly refineries in the country. During the year 1998/99 crude throughput at the Refinery was the highest ever at 8.94 MMT yielding 8.57 MMT of refined products. BPC's Refinery has one of the most flexible configuration in the country and has so far processed 46 different types of crude. BPC recognises its responsibility towards reducing the levels of automotive emissions and their Refinery is the only one in the country that produces Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), which is used as an octane booster is place of Tetra Ethyl Lead. BPC's Refinery has received ISO 9002 and ISO 14001 certification from Det Norske Veritas, Netherlands.
Marketing Infrastructure
In order to be closer to their customers, Bharat Petroleum has constantly been building up infrastructure. Their strong marketing infrastructure includes coastal and inland storage facilities with a total tankage capacity of 27.15 lakh kls, comprising of 8 port installations, 7 inland installations, 2 bunkering installations, 1 lubricating oil blending plant, 12 pipeline TOPs, 65 company operated depots, 64 commission operated/special agreement depots and 28 despatch units. Their retail network comprises of 4423 Retail Outlets and 964 kerosene/light diesel oil dealerships spread across the length and breadth of the country.
In a major technological upgradation drive, Bharat Petroleum introduced internal standard, state-of-the-art facilities at their New Generation Retail Outlets. These outlets have all the modern facilities (including automatic car wash facility) and also have convenience stores attached to them.
They cater to the needs of international and domestic airlines through a network of 16 Aviation Fuelling Stations spread throughout the country, of which Aviation Stations at Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi and Bangalore have been awarded ISO 9002 by Bureau Veritas Quality International.
BPC has 1205 LPG distributors catering to 8.03 million consumers. LPG infrastructure includes 28 LPG bottling plants with a total capacity of 1032 TMTPA. BPC was the first in the industry to be awarded ISO 9002 accreditation for an LPG Bottling Plant. 21 Bottling Plants have already received ISO 9002 certification.
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS DURING 1998-99

Turnover of Rs. 25649.8 crores against 20697.5 crores during 1997-98.
Net Profit of Rs. 701.3 crores against Rs. 532.7 crores during 1997-98.
Gross Profit of Rs. 1382 crores compared to 1102 crores during 1997-98. Annualised EPS Rs. 46.75 as against Rs. 35.51.
The Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of 125% amounting to Rs. 208.13 crores on the equity capital of Rs. 150 crores.
Sales of 17.50 MMT, a growth of 6.9% which is ahead of previous year.
Networth as at 31st March 1999 stood at Rs. 3021.8 crores.

Social Welfare
Sports :- Bharat Petroleum has been in the forefront of promoting the cause of sports and sportspersons. A number of tournaments in the disciplines of athletics, football, tennis, golf, hockey, cycling have been sponsored. Bharat Petroleum has become synonymous with major sporting events viz., Santosh Trophy, Thane Athletic Meet, as well as Bharat Petroleum FIDE rated chess tournaments. A concerted effort towards lending, training and coaching support to the children of Mumbai, has started producing results, with a good number of winners sponsoring various events, Bharat Petroleum has been providing excellent career opportunity to many sports persons. Former Internationals such as Karsan Ghavri (Cricket) and M. M. Somaya (Hockey) hold senior positions in the company. Some of the other outstanding players recruited in the last few years include International master V. Saravanan and Anupama Gokhale in Chess, Ravi Nayakar, Sandeep Somesh and Sabu Varkey in Hockey, Tauseef Jamal in Football, Abhijit Kale in Cricket, Mythili and Bhuvaneshwari in Table Tennis, Jyoti Randhawa, Amritinder Singh and Vivek Bhandari in Golf, PVV Lakshmi, Bhushan Akut and George Thomas in Badminton and Devendra Joshi in Billiards.
Environment :- Efforts are continuously made towards conservation and improvement of the environment. New technologies are adopted where possible. Low lead MS (with 0.15 gms of lead per litre) was introduced in the country from January 1, 1997. HSD with a maximum Sulphur content of 0.5% by weight was introduced in the metro cities and in the Taj Trapezium with effect from April 1996. From 1996, HSD with a maximum Sulphur content of 0.25% by weight was introduced in the Taj Trapezium. To meet the requirement all over the country of HSD with the revised specification of maximum of 25% by weight from 1999, facilities for Diesel Hydro desulphurisation and being put up in the Refinery, Distribution of other Low sulphur Fuels (with a maximum Sulphur content of 1.8% by weight) was started in the National Capital Region from October 1996. Consequently, the use of High Sulphur FO and RFO has been discontinued in the Region.
Public Welfare :- Bharat Petroleum has been associated with and supported the cause of various agencies and NGOs like CRY, for sponsoring its projects of rehabilitation of villages in East India, Cancer Patients Aid Association and NAB by sponsoring their various fund raising programmes etc. It has also been supporting various medical institutions like Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Foundation in Delhi, Shankara Netralaya in Guwahati to name a few.
Safety :- Safety continues to be accorded the highest priority in BPC, both in refining and marketing operations.