New Delhi: State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is expecting to commission its Chhara Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal by November or December this year, investors were told by the PSU’s management during a recent conference call. Elaborating on the projects that the company is expecting to commission before the end of calendar year 2024, HPCL’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Pushp Kumar Joshi said, “Second major project would be that we would be commissioning our LNG regasification and storage terminal at Chhara, that is in Saurashtra in Gujarat, that would be completed.”
“… we would be undertaking the activity of commissioning the terminal in the month of November or December, maybe early December, depending upon the weather conditions at the site,” HPCL’s Director (Finance) Rajneesh Narang added in response to a separate question on the Chhara LNG terminal.
Commenting on the gas requirements and its sourcing for the new LNG terminal, Narang said, “As regards the total gas requirement, the captive use of refineries of HPCL as well as the group company is around 1.5 million metric tons (MMT). And we will also be booking capacity. We have already got a lot of interest from parties who are willing to book capacities in the same, but we are just waiting for the commissioning of the facility to be done and then we will be signing the agreement for the gas fixation. As fas as the sourcing strategy is concerned, we are already in the market tying up long-term gas from international players.”
In addition to the Chhara LNG terminal, HPCL is also looking to commission a bunch of other projects before the end of the calendar year. These projects include the Barmer refinery in Rajasthan, LPG cavern and the 2G ethanol plant in Bhatinda, Punjab. “We would also be completing our LPG cavern storage facility at Mangalore. We will also be commissioning our 2G Ethanol plant at Bathinda. All this would happen before this calendar year end,” said the CMD.
“And as far as our HRRL (Hindustan Rajasthan Refinery Limited) is concerned, I am happy to share that we have achieved more than 80 percent completion on the overall physical progress. And the refining portion, where the progress is plus 90 percent, we have been able to commission the pipelines, the offsite facilities, all the facilities which are there, which are required. So, therefore, it is our target. And we are confident that by this financial year-end, we would be able to commission our refining portion of HRRL. That is our Barmer Refinery,” said Joshi.
“Another significant thing I want to add is that this calendar year end, we will be completing our major projects in terms of one is Vishakhapatnam Refinery. Vishakhapatnam Refinery, we wish to share that post-expansion, all our units are stabilized, including the CDU-4, which is the most energy-efficient CDU in the country that is fully stabilised,” the CMD added.
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