Nagarjuna Oil Corp said it will commission its INR 6,960 crore Cuddalore refinery in Tamil Nadu by the end of 2011.

The report quoted Mr S Rammohan MD of NOC as saying that "The refinery is 40% complete and we are targeting commissioning by end 2011.”

He said that the 6 million tonnes a year unit will start processing crude oil in December 2011 and achieve full commissioning by March 2012.

Mr Rammohan said that NOC has tied up with British energy major BP Plc for sourcing crude oil that will be processed at the refinery. BP will also be responsible for export of 25% of fuel produced at the unit.

He added that "The remaining product will be sold domestically. We have signed with Indian Oil Corp for selling 4 million tonnes of products to meet demand in that region.”

Refinery, located 200 kilometres south of Chennai on the east coast, will have associated marine infrastructure including single point mooring (for crude oil handling in very large crude carriers) and jetty (for finished product handling). It will have high complexity factor designed to take advantage of processing heavy and sour crude oil.

Work at the refinery site commenced in 2006, and will produce Euro IV and Euro V auto fuels, LPG and bitumen. The project site is spread over 1600 acres, which includes 300 acres of greenbelt.