VISHAKAPATNAM: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), which is completing its underground LPG storage facility (called “cavern storage project”) in Vishakapatnam, has drawn plans for three more units in south India.
“Mangalore has been finalised for one of these. Locations for the other two caverns are yet to be decided,” an HPCL official said.
HPCL is seeking a partner for these projects, which could cost around Rs 1,000 crore. Work on the Mangalore cavern is expected to start in 2008.
Oil analysts said HPCL’s new cavern storage project plans will not be an easy to execute. The Vizag one that the refiner is executing is itself delayed by a year now. It was scheduled to be commissioned by June 2006, but technical issues and lack of experience in executing such a project led to inordinate delays. They said it is doubtful whether HPCL will be able to complete the Rs 333 crore, Vizag project by June 2007. Its completion, however, is expected to prop up imports of LPG in large parcels, thereby reducing freight costs. The 60,000 metric tonne capacity project is being constructed by South Asia LPG Pvt Ltd, an equal stake joint venture formed in 1999 between HPCL and Total SA, the French oil major.
Neeraj Sanghi, chief executive officer (CEO), South Asia LPG Pvt Ltd, said India will be one among 80 countries to have an underground LPG storage facility at 600 feet below sea level, referring to the Vizag unit.
It will also be the largest LPG storage terminal in the country. An LPG pipeline from Vizag to Hyderabad has been constructed by GAIL (India), which could be used to transport the fuel.
