Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), which discovered natural gas assets in Mozambique, plans to monetise the gas finds by proposing to set up two LNG plant of 5 mn tpa capacity each.

   The firm also plans to raise the Kochi refinery capacity from 9.5 mn tpa to 15.5 mn tpa under the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project. The public sector firm pegs capital expenditure at about Rs 45,000 crore in the next four to five years for expanding its refinery capacity and upstream operations.

   In the next four to five years, the firm aims to emerge as a major player in the exploration and production field. The firm would spend Rs 10,000 crore towards the marketing of Mozambique gas in the next four to five years. By 2017-18, it is hopeful of get getting gas, of which a part would be brought to India.

   The company chairman also expressed his confidence at being able to mobilise the resources for its ambitious plans.The company may also go in for a foreign borrowing to finance its petro chemical project in Kerala.

   The company’s board has approved a new R&D project to produce diesel from bio-mass jointly with Shell and another Hyderabad based company, Chairman said.

   The company does not see any difficulty in mobilising the resources for its ambitious plans as it is tying up with banks for loan arrangements in the upstream sector through reserve base lending.