News Release Details

Secretary General OPEC takes a ‘Pilgrimage Tour' to IndianOil's Digboi Refinery
New Delhi   17-Apr-2018


His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General, OPEC along with team OPEC & team Digboi Refinery during his visit at Digboi Centenary Museum Complex

Recently an OPEC delegation led by Secretary General HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo visited IndianOil's AOD Digboi Refinery, which is the oldest operating refinery in the world.

The OPEC delegation was given a guided tour of the Digboi Centenary Museum with a detailed brief about the incredible facts that led to the discovery of oil in the remote corner of India in the late 19th century.

“I am on a pilgrimage” remarked HE Dr. Barkindo as he stood awestruck to behold the Oil Discovery Well No. 1 where it all began.

The delegates went around the refinery, which included pit-stops at the 1928 vintage Wax Moulding Shed and the historic “Still” used to treat crude oil.

When asked about his visit to Digboi, Dr. Barkindo said that Digboi was a name he had heard many times since his student days; and now “A dream is fulfilled finally as I have the distinct honour and privilege to visit the birth place of the oil industry that fuelled the current civilization and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. I congratulate the management of IndianOil, Digboi and the Government of India for preserving this prized history.”

After planting a sapling to mark his visit, HE Dr Barkindo added, “Contrary to some views, the Petroleum industry devotes its maximum priority, time and resources in the care and concern for the environment. I am extremely honoured on being able to participate in this meaningful action of tree plantation that too in this revered birth-place of oil.”

(Kalikrishna M)
Executive Director (Corporate Communications)
Indian Oil Corporation Limited
Corporate Office
New Delhi