BPCL halves crude runs at Mumbai refinery; plans repairs at other plants

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has shut half of its crude processing capacity at its 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) Mumbai refinery in western India since June 10 to carry out maintenance, a company spokesman said.

The state-run refiner has shut a 120,000 bpd crude unit and some secondary units including diesel hydro desulfuriser and hydrogen generation units for 20 to 25 days, the spokesman said. Other units are functioning as normal, he said.

BPCL had planned the maintenance shutdown for March but pushed it back to take advantage of strong fuel cracks.

The refiner also plans to shut units at its 156,000 bpd Bina refinery in central India and 310,000 bpd Kochi refinery in the southern Kerala state later this year.

It plans to shut a 2.6 million tonnes a year hydrocracker at its Bina refinery for 10 days for catalyst replacement in September, the spokesman said.

"Maintenance shutdown at Kochi is planned immediately after Bina," he said, adding the company would meet fuel supply commitments during the shutdown of units at its three refineries.

BPCL plans to shut a 210,000 bpd crude unit and secondary units including fluid catalytic cracking, vacuum gas oil hydro-treater, diesel hydro-treater, sulphur recovery and hydrogen generation units at its Kochi refinery for 25 to 30 days in September-October.

The company also plans to fully shut its Bina refinery for 25 to 30 days for maintenance in April-May next year, the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Christopher Cushing)