Mid June Asian downstream update

India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has lent his support to the Rajasthan government’s plan to set up a refinery at the Barmer oilfields, which are operated by Cairn Energy. The news comes amidst fresh delays in the approval of Vedanta’s US$ 9.6 billion proposed deal to buy a majority stake in Cairn Energy PLC's Indian business.

State run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) will shortly begin seeking petroleum products from Reliance Industries, Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, after it shuts down half the capacity of its 6.5 million tpy Mumbai refinery for an upgrade. The shut down is scheduled to last two months, and will commence following the current monsoon.

Pakistan

Byco is finalising plans to build an aromatic petrochemical plant near Karachi, which will produce approximately 100 000 tpy of benzene,92 000 tpy of paraxylene, 80 000 tpy of isomer grade mixed xylene and 50 000 tpy of orthoxylene. Byco currently operates a 35 000 bpd refinery in the same area, and is currently building another 120 000 bpd complex adjacent to the smaller plant, due for completion in November. The new refinery will provide the naphtha feedstock needed for the aromatic facility.

Japan

Japanese refiner Nansei Sekiyu KK, wholly owned by Brazil's state run Petrobras, expects to restart refining operations at its 100 000 bpd Nishihara refinery in Okinawa, southwestern Japan, on June 19. The 100 000 bpd crude distillation unit has been shut since June 5 due to unplanned maintenance work necessitated by typhoon No. 2, which passed through Okinawa on May 28. Following the adverse weather, part of the cooling tower fell down and two cooling modules broke, requiring repairs for the refinery to restart operations.

Vietnam

Vietnam’s only oil refinery, the Dung Quat complex, is aiming to expand its capacity by approximately 50% to up to 200 800 bpd by 2017. The capacity will be filled by imported Middle Eastern and Venezuelan crude. The project will require between US$ 1 billion and US$ 2 billion to develop the complex from its current 190 800 bpd rate.

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