Indian refiners are seeking a foothold in neighboring Myanmar to capitalize on growth prospects as the Southeast Asian nation emerges from a half-century of military rule.
Numaligarh Refinery Ltd., a unit of India’s second-biggest state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp., plans to export gasoline to Myanmar. Indian Oil Corp., the largest refiner, is also keen on tapping the fuel retailing opportunity. An International Monetary Fund forecast for world beating economic expansion in 2016 points to growing demand for petrol and diesel in the nation.
“The growth opportunity in Myanmar is fabulous,” Numaligarh Refinery’s Managing Director P. Padmanabhan said in an interview in New Delhi. “We’re talking to the Myanmar government.”
Padmanabhan said Numaligarh Refinery eventually plans to supply 500,000 metric tons of gasoline every year, which is equivalent to about a quarter of the estimated 50,000 barrels a day of petrol Myanmar currently consumes. While the Asian Development Bank estimates the country needs $80 billion of power, transport, and technology projects through 2030, challenges in fuel retailing include industry fragmentation, shifting rules and illegal outlets.
Source: The Bloomberg