IOC defers Panipat refinery expansion plan

State-run Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has deferred expansion of its Panipat refinery by four months to April 2010. The planned expansion would connect new units that would raise refinery capacity to 15 million tons a year from the current 12 million tons. It would involve shutting down half of the plant, IOC Director (Refineries) B.N. Bankapur said. The seasonal surge in demand for petroleum products during the last part of the fiscal year had forced IOC to change its strategy for commissioning the Rs10.07 billion (US$203.2 million) Panipat Refinery expansion project. IOC would need to shut one crude distillation unit, a hydrocracker and a delayed coker unit for 40 to 45 days. Bankapur said IOC was targeting processing 46 million tons of crude oil in 2009 to 2010 fiscal year, 6.5% lower than the previous period. (April 28, 2009)