NEW DELHI: State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) plans to invest Rs13,000 crore to almost double the capacity of its Vizag oil refinery in Andhra Pradesh to 15 million tonnes a year by 2013-14.




"We have asked for a detailed feasibility report (DFR) for raising capacity at the Vizag refinery," HPCL Chairman and managing director Subir Roychowdhary said here.



The decision to expand the Vizag refinery follows steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal group and French oil firm Total SA walking out of a proposed USD 4 billion project to build a 15 million tonnes per annum refinery and a 2.5 million tonnes per annum petrochemicals plant near HPCL's 8.3 million tonnes per annum refinery at Visakhapatnam.



"That project is on freeze (since 2007 when Mittal walked out). We are now looking at raising our Vizag refinery capacity," he said.



The other partners in the five-way consortium were state-run explorer Oil India Ltd and state gas utility GAIL India Ltd.



HPCL does not intend to bring a partner onboard for the refinery expansion.



It may add a new 180,000 barrels per day (9 million tonnes per annum) crude distillation unit (CDU) and scrap the old 36,000 bpd (1.8 million tonnes per annum) unit at the Vizag refinery.



"We already have acquired land for the project," he said. "The project will take 3 years to complete."



HPCL currently operates three CDUs at the 8.3 million tonnes a year (166,000 bpd) Vizag refinery. It also runs a 6.5 million tonnes a year refinery in Mumbai.



Roychowdhary said HPCL and Mittal Energy, owned by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, will mechanically complete the 9 million tonnes a year refinery at Bhatinda, in Punjab, by March, 2011, and the unit will be fully operational by September.



HPCL is also looking at investing Rs30,000 crore to set up an 18 million tonnes a year refinery.



The new refinery, to be set up in Maharashtra, was conceptualised to make up for space constraints at HPCL's existing Mumbai Refinery.



"We have been told that 1,800 acres of land is available with MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corp). We have asked for 1,000 acres more land," he said.



State-owned Engineers India has been engaged to carry out a feasibility study on the proposed refinery. The options under consideration are a single 18 million tonnes per annum unit or two units of 9 million tonnes per annum capacity each.



The DFR will be ready by December, Roychowdhary said. The land earmarked for the refinery is located between Ratnagiri and Raigad and the unit, called Maharashtra Refinery, would be completed within 48 months from the date of receipt of all approvals.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil--gas/HPCL-to-invest-Rs13000-cr-to-augment-Vizag-refinery-capacity/articleshow/6929315.cms

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HPCL plans refinery in Maharashtra


Special Correspondent …in the pages of the HINDU newspaper…

It will come up between Ratnagiri and Raigad districts of Maharashtra…

NEW DELHI: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) is understood to have finalized plans to set up a 9-million tonnes refinery in Maharashtra with an investment of around Rs.15,000 crore.Official sources said the Maharasthra Government had offered land places and the company was in the process of giving a final shape to the proposal. The company, which has a 6.5-million tonnes a year refinery in Mumabi, wants to shift out the metropolis as lack of space had made its expansion plans difficult.

HPCL wants to build a 9-million tonnes unit and then double it at a later date. A consultant for doing detailed feasibility report (DFR) will be appointed soon and a decision on setting up the refinery would be finalized shortly.The land offered for the refinery is located between Ratnagiri and Raigad districts. The new facility would be completed in 48 months from the date of receiving all approvals, officials said.

“The refinery in Mumbai is spread in 350 acres while for refinery of such a size at least 2,000 acres are required. We think that when the new refinery is completed, the Mumbai facility might be shut down,'' the official added.HPCL has a 7.5-million tonnes-a-year unit at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh and is also building a 9-million tonnes plant at Bhatinda in Punjab in joint venture with Lakshmi N. Mittal.

The commissioning of feasibility study is being done and is expected to be completed in six months. The investment decision will be made based on the feasibility study. The Maharashtra Government has been asked for 2,500-3,000 acres for the project.

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New HPCL chief leads change of guard in oilcos


The Times of India….newspaper.



NEW DELHI: Subir Roychoudhury on Sunday took over as chairman and managing director of refiner-marketer Hindustan Petroleum, starting a round of leadership change in state-run oil companies. A mechanical engineer, Roychoudhury was the marketing director in HPCL and takes over the company's reins from Arun Balakrishnan who superannuated on Saturday. Roychoudhury marks the first change of guard in the state-run oil industry. Flagship refiner-marketer IndianOil and sister PSU Bharat Petroleum are next in line to have new chiefs.



IndianOil director (marketing) B M Bansal has been officiating as chairman since February after the government denied an extension to Sarthak Behuria while the BPCL chairman is serving notice period after putting in his papers. The interviews for choosing their successors are to be held in September-end. Next in line will be flagship explorer ONGC. The company will have a new chairman in March next year after incumbent R S Sharma superannuates. Last month, A K Balyan moved as ONGC director HR to head Petronet LNG. The company, however, is registered as a private entity even though it is promoted by state-run firms for importing gas in ships.

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Heavy HPCL loss on unsubsidised oil sales


Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) posted a net loss of Rs 1,884.29 crore for the first quarter against a net profit for the corresponding previous quarter of 2009-10.

The company’s gross refining margin for the quarter also fell to $3.72 a barrel, compared to $5.71 for the April-June 2009 period.

“The loss is on account of no subsidy from the government for this quarter. We expect to receive our subsidy share during the second quarter,” said a senior executive from HPCL.

HPCL’s net revenue grew 21 per cent to Rs 29,219.87 crore from the Rs 24,197.58 crore last year. “The loss during the quarter is primarily on account of absorption of underrecoveries on sale of sensitive petroleum products amounting to Rs 2,939 crore.


The interest cost for the period was, however, lower at Rs 197 crore, compared to Rs 270 crore during the same period of previous year. The decrease in interest cost was due to effective treasury management, as also liquidity in the market,” the company said in a press statement. HPCL had to bear a subsidy burden of Rs151.09 crore compared with Rs141.25 crore in the April-June 2009.

The HPCL scrip ended at Rs 435.70, down 1.06 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Source 24 July 2010;business-standard.com:Mumbai:

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HPCL seeks capacity in strategic crude oil storage

Tuesday, July 13, 2010


State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) has hunted a capacity in India's first strategic crude oil storage being built on the east, as an insurance against supply disruptionsAround 75 per cent of the total crude demand in India is being imported, thus it requires under-ground storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tones of crude oil. Once this is achieved it will be enough for nation's oil requirement of 13-14 days.HPCL has already submitted a proposal to the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (ISPR), which is building the strategic stockpile, for utilizing 0.3 million tones capacity of the 1.33 million tones crude cavern project at Visakhapatnam at a proportionate cost of Rs 230 crore, as per official sources. Moreover, HPCL, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) too has sought 0.3 million tones capacity of 1.55 million tones Mangalore cavern. Both proposals involve sharing cost in a proportionate manner with ISPR for the caverns, the officials added. Besides, HPCL operates refinery at Visakhapatnam while MRPL too has a unit at Mangalore. The officials also have shared the cost structure and details of the projects, 5 million tones strategic storage facility was being built with an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore. The carven at Visakhapatnam is set to be completed by October 2011 while a similar facility in Mangalore will be mechanically completed by November 2012. The 2.5 million tones storage at Padur, near Mangalore, would be completed by December 2012. Besides, HPCL and ISPRL are also likely to sign an operational agreement to address issues such as type of crude oil that could be stored at the cavern, frequency of crude imports and evacuation need of HPCL for processing crude at Visakh Refinery. Also, a similar pact will be arranged between the company and MRPL. After the successful completion of this project, India will be joining the group of nations like the US, Japan and China who have their own strategic reserves. These nations use the stockpiles not only as insurance against supply disruptions but also to buy and store oil when prices are low and release them to refiners when there is a spike in global rates.However, the storage India is comparatively small compared to the 90 day strategic stockpile in the US. New Delhi was considering to raise the storage capacity to 15 million tones to cover for 45 days requirement but no further talks has been initaited.
Source: http://www.hindustanpetroleum.com/En/ui/HPCLinNews.aspx

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