Washington: Reliance Petroleum Ltd. (RPL) has lined up a $500-million loan guarantee from the US Exim Bank for its $6 billion state-of-the-art oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

RIL''s new refinery, designed to be the world''s sixth largest, will be located adjacent to the company''s existing refinery and petrochemical complex in Jamnagar. Together the two refineries will comprise the largest refining complex in the world.

Once completed in December 2008, the refinery will be among the most modern and complex in the world, capable of producing high quality fuels such as gasoline, jet fuel diesel, alkylates, naphtha, kerosene, as well as polypropylene.

The refinery''s Nelson Complexity Index is 14, compared to the average index of 10 in the United States (the index is a measure of the secondary conversion capacity of a petroleum refinery relative to the primary distillation capacity. The higher the value of the index, the higher will be the cost of the refinery, and the higher the value of its products, which will include more lighter, higher-value, products.).

Citibank is the guaranteed lender for the transaction. Bechtel Corp is providing design, procurement, project management and other services. Other US firms associated with the the project include Black & Veatch International Co for sulphur recovery and gas treatment units; Dow Global Technologies for licensing and services for the polypropylene plant process; Foster Wheeler Corp for fired heaters for the refinery''s coker; and UOP LLC for the catalytic converter reactor section and PSA (pressure swing absorption) packages.

According to James H. Lambright, chairman and president, US Exim Bank, "Exim Bank''s long and successful relationship with the RIL group of companies, dating back to the early 1980s, has contributed to growth in the dynamic Indian market while helping to create US jobs. We hope to support future RIL projects in other industrial sectors."

"This transaction is yet another affirmation from Exim Bank of the growth potential that they see in India and in particular the Reliance Group," says chairman and managing director of RIL and chairman of RPL. "We look forward to deepening and strengthening our valued relationship with Ex-Im Bank."

Ex-Im Bank''s exposure to India, including the current project, is approximately $3.1 billion, with $1.17 billion in additional pending final commitments. An independent US government agency, Ex-Im Bank authorised over $12.1 billion in transactions supporting an estimated $16.1 billion in US exports in 2006.