India's HPCL to complete base oils plant conversion in July

13 January 2010 02:29  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--India’s state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) expects to complete ongoing works on the conversion of its group 1 base oils plant in Mumbai for the production of higher quality base oils by July, said a company source on Wednesday.

HPCL’s 335,000 tonne/year group I base oils refinery was being converted to produce 225,000 tonnes/year of group II base oils and the balance of 100,000 tonnes/year would continue to be group I production, the source added.

"This is the first such base oils plant in the world which is being converted to produce both groups of base oils," the source said.

The conversion was being done to cater to India's growing demand for group II base oils, but the company would also like to keep some group I production especially for grades like brightstock, the source added.

The main group II grades to be produced at the site would be 150 neutral and 500 neutrals with limited quantities of 60/70 neutral using Exxon technology, he added.

Current production at the refinery includes around 60,000 tonnes/year of brightstock and the rest are grades like SN-150 and SN-500.

For more on base oils  visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Anu Agarwal
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