HPCL Set to Supply Euro-IV Diesel from New DHT Unit at Visakhapatnam Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (New Delhi, India)--Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) (Mumbai, India), India's state-owned refiner, is set to complete the 44,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) diesel hydro-treating (DHT) project at its 166,000-BBL/d Visakhapatnam Refinery, which is in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The DHT project is being implemented for about $100 million and is expected to be on-stream by the end of November 2012. Also, a 37.2 million-standard-cubic-feet-per-day hydrogen generation unit is being developed to support the DHT unit. With the commission of the DHT unit, HPCL will join the Euro IV-Compliant High Speed Diesel Suppliers' league.

At present, Euro IV diesel is being supplied only by major oil marketing companies, such Indian Oil Corporation Limited (New Delhi, India) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (Mumbai, India), to 13 cities in India. With the commissioning of the DHT unit, the supply of Euro IV diesel will also be available in Visakhapatnam. The city currently receives Euro III-compliant diesel only. HPCL already had commissioned Motor Spirit units to meet the Euro III and Euro IV specification for production of petrol in the refinery.

The Visakhapatnam refinery is designed to process Arab Mix Crude. It also will have the flexibility to process other types of Middle East Crude, adopting the state-of-the-art technologies, which include major units like three-crude distillation units, a vacuum distillation unit, a visbreaker unit, two FCCU units, a diesel hydrotreater, a diesel hydrodesulphurization unit, a hydrogen unit, a naphtha hydrotreater, a CCR reformer unit, an isomerization unit and a sulfur recovery unit.

HPCL currently has a refining capacity of 296,000 BBL/d from its refineries based in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam, with capacities of 130,000 BBL/d and 166,000 BBL/d, respectively. HPCL is also coming up with a 180,000-BBL/d refinery at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, to cater to the increasing demand for refined petroleum products in the Western region of the country.

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