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Monday, March 21, 2011

BPCL delays shutdown of its refinery units


Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has delayed the shutdown plans of hydrogen unit at its Mumbai refinery and a diesel unit at the Kochi plant in order to meet local fuel demand.  The company had planned the schedule for shutdown in the month of April but it has been deferred, company officials stated.
Indian refiners are struggling to get a good response to their diesel import tenders as traders target more lucrative sales to quake-hit Japan. Last week BPCL bought only one of the four diesel cargoes it was seeking via tender for April delivery at a very high premium.
Further, other refineries like HPCL and IOC have also planned to defer shutdown of their units.
Recently, BPCL's announced that its refinery at Bina, a new unit, is likely to deliver impressive refining margins of $11 a barrel, in spite of soaring raw material prices, company officials quoted. The margin is expected to be more than double the margin of its other units in recent months.
The company reported a decline of 50.57% in net profit from of Rs 187.38 crore for the quarter ended December 2010 compared to Rs 379.09 crore in the same quarter last year.

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