A company source said that India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has postponed the completion of its expansion of a refinery due to labor shortage and approaching monsoon.
The expansion of the Vizag refinery, located in Andhra Pradesh state, was initially to be completed in July. The expansion would cost INR209.28 billion (USD2.77 billion) and would almost double the coastal plant capacity to 300,000 bpd.
However, due to the nationwide lockdowns to restrict the spread of coronavirus, the project is short of labor as many workers returned to their hometowns. Adding to the hindrance is the upcoming monsoon which would complicate the construction work.
The source estimated that the delay could last until October or November.
The planned expansion of the refinery would include the replacement of a smaller crude distillation unit with a new 180,000 bpd one. The company also will build a 0.352 million tpa naphtha isomerization unit, a 3.053 million tpy hydrocracker, and a power plant that can run on either naphtha or natural gas.
Other than that, HPCL will increase the capacity of the continuous catalytic cracker to 1.039 million tpa, and adds the capacity of naphtha hydrotreater by 30% to 1.5 million tpa.
