Hindustan Petroleum lets contract for new unit at Mumbai refinery

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has let a contract to Chevron Lummus Global LLC (CLG) to license technologies for a proposed grassroots unit to be installed at the operator’s 9.5-million tonne/year (tpy) refinery in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

As part of the Jan. 17 contract, CLG will deliver licensing of its proprietary technologies for development of a new 550,000-tpy integrated hydrocracker and catalytic dewaxing unit to enable expanded production of Group II+ and Group III premium base oils at the refinery, the service provider said.

CLG said its scope of work under the contract also covers a full catalyst reload at the Mumbai refinery’s existing lube oil upgrading plant.

CLG disclosed no further details regarding the value of the contract, the specific technologies to be licensed, or a timeframe for the proposed project.

The contract award follows HPCL’s initial reference to the planned addition of the integrated unit at Mumbai during a presentation to investors on May 30, 2023. The operator, however, has yet to officially confirm additional information about the project.

The Mumbai refinery currently houses India’s largest plant for production of lube oil base stocks (LOBS) that—with a capacity of 428,000 tpy—represents 40% of the country’s total LOBS installed capacity, according to HPCL’s website.

In response to changing market dynamics and maximize growth opportunities to help remain competitive, HPCL has developed a roadmap for unlocking additional value of its various businesses by granting preliminary approvals for exploring options that include carving out its corporate-wide lube business, Pushp Kumar Joshi—HPCL’s chairman and managing director—said a speech delivered at the company’s annual general meeting on Aug. 25, 2023.

Details regarding those in-principle approvals—which would require approvals from Indian regulatory authorities—remain unavailable to date.