Indian Oil Corp plans to shut units at Panipat plant

State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) plans to shut for repairs some of its secondary units and a naphtha cracker plant at northern Panipat refinery in the next fiscal, a source said on Tuesday.

IOC's Panipat refinery has a capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude, while its giant naphtha cracker can annually produce 850,000 tonnes of ethylene and 600,000 tonnes of propylene. Panipat is IOC's biggest refinery.

"In last two years it (IOC) carried out work at its crude units and it is the turn of the secondary units in the next fiscal," the source said.

The firm's Panipat naphtha cracker was shut over the weekend for minor repair works and cleaning, the source said adding, the unit will be back online in last week of the month.

The cracker would again be shut in the August-September for about a month for complete inspection and repair works, the source said, a move that will free naphtha for spot sales.

IOC also plans to shut a 1.9 million tonnes a year hydrocracker for 29 days and a 850,000 tonnes a year diesel hydro-desulphurisation unit for 19 day in May, mainly for catalyst replacement, at Panipat refinery, the source said.

The firm would also shut a 3.5 million tonnes a year diesel hydrotreater for three weeks in July-August and a 3 million tonnes a year coker for 10 days in November, the source added.

IOC's maintenance schedule at Panipat refinery may change at a later day, the source said, adding that there were plans to also shut a 850,000 tonnesyr fluid catalytic cracker for 43 days during December-February.

No immediate comment was available from IOC.

IOC is India's biggest refiner with a capacity to process 1.294 million bpd oil.