BPCL Selects Licensors for Kochi Refinery Expansion Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--As a part of its expansion and modernization drive, India's state-owned oil marketing company, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BSE:500547) (BPCL) (Mumbai, Maharashtra), has selected licensors for three major units of its Kochi Refinery Expansion Project. ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB) (Zurich, Switzerland) has been selected for a delayed coker unit, Shell Global Solutions (NYSE:RDS.A) (Hague, The Netherlands) for a vacuum gas oil hydrotreater, and Haldor Topsoe (Lyngby, Denmark) to provide a complete technology package for a diesel hydrotreater.

According to BPCL sources, the selection process of licensors for remaining units and utilities will be completed within next two months. The $3.1 billion upgrade and expansion programme would increase the production of refined products by 110,000 to 120,000 barrels per day (BBL/d).

The expansion envisages enhancing production from the various process units such as a crude distillation unit, vacuum distillation unit, vacuum gas oil hydrotreater, diesel hydrotreater, fluid catalytic cracking unit, amine regeneration unit, hydrogen production unit and sulfur recovery unit, along with the revamp of the associated utilities and offsite facilities.

Engineers India Limited (BSE:532178) (EIL) (New Delhi, India) is performing a feasibility study for the project. The detailed feasibility report (DFR) is expected to be completed by June 2012.

The Kochi refinery, which is at Ambalmugal, near the port city of Kochi in Kerala, is one of the two refineries of BPCL. The refinery presently has a crude oil refining capacity of about 200,000 BBL/d. The product portfolio of the refinery stands at 190,000 barrels per day, which includes petrochemical feedstock and specialty products, in addition to the mainstream fuel products.

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