The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) announced that it had received the first shipment of crude oil from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) KG-DWN 98/2 Block. ONGC had initiated production from the deep-water KG-DWN 98/2 Block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin off the Bay of Bengal on the Kakinada coast in January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off Swarna Sindhu, the vessel carrying crude oil to MRPL on March 2. The sweet (low sulphur) indigenous crude is expected to undergo transformation into various fuels and petrochemicals at MRPL, making a significant contribution to the Athmanirbhar Bharath mission. MRPL received 60,000 metric tonne of crude oil or processing at its refinery at New Mangaluru Port. Sanjay Varma, MRPL director (refinery), informed that the crude oil would be processed soon. He stated, MRPL has software that selects the crude on an economic basis and according to other factors. We have the technical capability to process highly viscous crude to light crude, and high sulphur to low sulphur crude. Varma added, We have 250 varieties of crude in our basket, and this refinery has the achievement of processing 100 types of crude. The refinery receives crude oil from various parts of the world, including the Middle East and from Mumbai High field, Mangala field in Rajasthan, and others. The current production in KG-DWN 98/2 Block is 12,000 barrels per day, utilizing a floating production and storage offloading (FPSO). Once it reaches its peak production, which is 45-50,000 barrels per day, it is expected to contribute to a 7% incremental oil and gas production at a national level. About 80-85% of the crude oil is imported, reflecting the government of India's emphasis on boosting domestic production and reducing reliance on crude imports. Varma mentioned that factors like shipping cost, insurance, distress crude, or issues such as an attack in the Red Sea affect the landing cost of crude. MRPL MD Mundkur Shyamprasad Kamath stated that the team would evaluate the value and characteristics of crude oil once processing begins. Typically, domestic crude oils exhibit low sulphur content and medium viscosity.