Essar refinery upgrade a success as Vadinar re-opens for business
ESSAR Energy’s Vadinar refinery will hit an increased capacity of 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of March, the company said yesterday.
The energy company had shut the refinery in western Gujarat state last month for 35 days to raise capacity by 25 per cent and upgrade it to process more heavy and ultra heavy crude oil.
“The expansion should be mechanically completed by year-end and fully ramped up and stabilised by the end of the March 2012,” the company said in a statement.
Essar is also on track to further raise capacity to 405,000 bpd by September 2012, it said.
The second expansion involves converting the redundant Vizbreaker Unit into a second crude distillation unit. India’s refining capacity is expected to rise 20 per cent to about 4.65m bpd.