HPCL Bags Letter of Intent for Awa-Salawas Pipeline Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Delhi, India)--Indian state-owned oil & gas major Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (BSE:500104) (HPCL) has bagged the letter of intent from the country's oil sector regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) (New Delhi, India), for the execution of its Awa-Salawas Pipeline Project in Rajasthan.

The 93-kilometer, multi-product pipeline is being developed to cater to the demand for petroleum products in and around the Jodhpur city area. The pipeline, with a diameter of 10 inches, will transport petroleum products from the existing Awa pump station to Indian Oil Corporation Limited's (BSE:530965) (IOCL) (New Delhi, India) depot at Salawas. The pipeline primarily will handle products such as EURO-III Motor Spirit, EURO-III High-Speed Diesel and Superiors Kerosene Oil. The company has lined up an investment of $20 million for the implementation of the pipeline, which will have an annual product handling capacity of 402,000 tonnes.

Woodgroup India Private Limited (WG:LSE) (Gurgaon, Haryana) has carried out the detailed feasibility studies for the pipeline in 2011. HPCL has hired Mecon Limited (Ranchi, Jharkhand) as engineering project management consultant for the project, which is expected to kick off by the end of second quarter of 2013. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.

Along with this project, HPCL also has planned an augmentation and realignment of the storage tanks installed at the Salawas depot.

HPCL operates in the hydrocarbons sector of exploration and production, refining and marketing, and accounts for about 20% of the market share and about 10% of the nation's refining capacity. It has two coastal refineries, one in Mumbai (West Coast) with a capacity of 6.5 million metric tonnes per annum, and the other in Vishakhapatnam (East Coast) with a capacity of 8.3 million metric tonnes per annum. HPCL also has 142 POL terminals and 45 LPG bottling plants for the marketing of petroleum products in India.

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