IndianOil refineries throughput crosses 80% commensurate with rising products demand
The crude oil throughput of IndianOil refineries crossed 80% as on date, with consumption of all petroleum products put together almost doubling in May ’20 as compared to April ’20 levels. The Corporation has been able to gradually raise the throughput of its refineries from about 55% of rated capacity in the beginning of May ’20 to about 78% by the month end, and 81.5% as on date. Capacity utilisation of the refineries had dropped to almost 39% in the beginning of Apr.’20. With Guwahati Refinery coming online after a prolonged maintenance shutdown in preparation for production of BS-VI fuels, IndianOil refineries are geared to operate at about 85% of their capacities this month, commensurate with rising products demand in the market. While the consumption of all petroleum products put together almost doubled in May ’20 compared to April ’20 levels, growth of petrol was higher at about 70% and diesel at 59%. Compared to May ’19, or the early months of the current year prior to the lockdown, the growth percentage has still to catch up by 24% to 26% for all products. In the case of LPG, with the Corporation rolling out about 25 lakh cylinder refills a day, the average backlog is less than a day. Along with growing consumption of white oils petrol and diesel (except ATF, which is still lagging at about 24% of normal level), the demand for black oils and specialty products like fuel oil, bitumen, petcoke and sulphur has also shown marked improvement, facilitating increase of refineries throughput. With the gradual lifting in lockdown restrictions, several downstream industries in the petrochemicals sector have resumed operations from late April ’20 and product evacuation from refinery stocks has increased gradually. With increase in demand, IndianOil’s Naphtha Cracker at Panipat is now operating at full capacity, along with downstream units for production of polypropylene, HDPE, LLDPE and MEG, together with PX/PTA production plants, also at Panipat. The polypropylene plant at Paradip Refinery and the LAB unit at Koyali Refinery have also gone online. IndianOil is on track to spend the approved capital expenditure of Rs. 261.43 billion for 2020-21. Work on almost 200 major projects (costing above Rs. 10 million) has restarted on ground. Major projects on which work has resumed include the Paradip-Hyderabad products pipeline; augmentation of Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline and its extension to Patna and Muzaffarpur; and the Ennore-Tiruvallur-Bangalore-Pondicherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Tuticorin R-LNG pipeline. Also despite the lockdown, pipeline laying and other activities under city gas distribution resumed in 11 Geographical Areas. Work has also restarted on other projects like grassroots LPG bottling plants, upcountry terminals/depots and additional facilities/tankage at existing bulk storage locations.
HPCL delays $3 billion Vizag refinery expansion: Source
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd has pushed back the completion of a billion-dollar expansion at its southeastern Vizag refinery to at least October-November due to a labour shortage and the onset of monsoon, a company source said. The state-run refiner had initially planned to complete the 209.28 billion rupee ($2.77 billion) expansion, which will nearly double the capacity of its coastal plant to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), in July. Many workers have returned to their hometowns due to the nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of coronavirus, while the onset of monsoon has made it difficult to carry out construction work, the source told Reuters. “Because of the lockdown we could not carry out the planned pre-monsoon work. We lost that window,” the source said, asking not to be named due to sensitivity of the issue. “We have not yet done our assessment but it seems completion of the project would be delayed to at least October-November.” HPCL did not respond to a Reuters’ request seeking comments. India has significantly eased the lockdown but a return to pre-COVID activity will take some time as inter-state transportation remain restricted and the virus cases are still rising. Construction and mechanical work is usually held off during monsoon as a safety precaution, the source said. The four-month Indian monsoon season starts from June. The expansion includes the replacement of a smaller crude distillation unit with a new 180,000 bpd at the refinery in Andhra Pradesh. HPCL is also building facilities including a 0.352 million tonnes per year (tpy) naphtha isomerisation unit, a 3.053 million tpy hydrocracker and a power plant that can run on either naphtha or natural gas. The project also involves the revamp of units including a 30% increase in capacity of naphtha hydrotreater to 1.5 million tpy and diesel hydrotreater to 2.86 million tpy, while the capacity of continuous catalytic cracker will be raised to 1.039 million tpy.
Petrol price hiked by 40 paise per litre, diesel by 45 paise
Petrol price on Wednesday was hiked by 40 paise per litre and diesel by 45 paise, the fourth straight daily increase in rates after oil PSUs ended an 82-day hiatus in rate revision. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 73.40 per litre from Rs 73, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 71.62 a litre from Rs 71.17, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT. This is the fourth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus. In four hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 2.14 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.23.
Massive fire at Assam’s Baghjan oil well
A massive fire engulfed the damaged Baghjan oil well on Tuesday which has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 14 days in Assam’s Tinsukia district, official sources said. The blaze at the Oil India Ltd’s oil well is so massive that it can be seen from a distance of more than two kilometres, eyewitnesses said. Three experts from Singaporean firm Alert Disaster Control were at the blowout site and some equipment was being removed when the fire broke out in the afternoon. A company spokesperson said no casualty or injury has been reported so far. Firefighters have rushed to the the spot and efforts are on to douse it, officials said. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, they said. In a series of tweets, the Chief Minister’s Office said Sarabananda Sonowal spoke to Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the phone regarding the incident. “The CM has already directed to deploy fire & emergency services, army and police officials at the site to control the situation. The CM also directed district admin to ensure safety of people and appealed to local people to not panic,” it said. A major blowout happened at the oil well, next to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, following which gas started flowing out uncontrollably. The district administration had evacuated thousands of people living nearby due to spouting of natural gas and condensate droplets.
Massive fire at leaking OIL well in Assam
A damaged Oil India Ltd well in Assam’s Tinsukia district that had been uncontrollably spewing gas for the past 14 days turned into a raging inferno on Tuesday. A PTI report said the fire could be seen from a distance of 30km and the billowing smoke was posing a danger to local biodiversities already ravaged following the May 27 blowout. The damaged well is located next to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. The spreading fire, the roaring sound of the gushing well and large explosions caused panic among locals. Nearly 1,600 families were evacuated but no casualties were reported. Huge swathes of vegetation as well as several houses were gutted. The fire broke out around 1.30pm while a team of specialists from Alert Disaster Control, which had been flown in from Singapore, was trying to stop the gas leak. An OIL spokesperson said, “A firefighter from ONGC sustained minor in juries. All officials of OIL and ONGC are being evacuated from nearby areas. Once the situation becomes normal, the experts from Alert and the staff of OIL and ONGC will move to the site.” Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and urged them to take urgent steps to douse the fire. He was assured of all kinds of assistance and was told the Air Force was on standby. Protests broke out as the fire started, threatening lives and livelihood of locals already facing the impact of the blowout. Following the gas leak, thousands had been moved out and housed at different camps where following social distancing norms remain difficult. Earlier, pictures of a river dolphin carcassand dead fishand vegetation in the area had gone viral. Activists blamed seepage of crude, condensate and other chemicals from the oilwell for the damage.