On 13 March, India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corp., announced plans to close a 120 000 bpd crude distillation unit at its 300 000 bpd refinery in southern Karnataka for approximately 10 days from early April for planned maintenance. A 1.6 million tpy hydrocracker, which produces middle distillates such as diesel, will also be closed for minor work. The company operates three CDUs and two hydrocrackers at the refinery.
"We will use the opportunity to do some minor jobs on the hydrocracker,” said Vijay G. Joshi, Head of Refinery Operations at MRPL. “Also, some work needs to be done at our captive power plant.” MRPL's product supply commitments will not be affected by the shutdown.
The company also has plans to shut its second 1.2 million tpy hydrocracker in the October - December 2015 quarter for catalyst replacement, which is expected to take approximately 30 - 45 days.
Edited from various sources by Rosalie Starling
Sources: Economic Times, Business Today