State-run Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has finalised plans to double the capacity of its Panipat refinery in northern India to 240,000 barrels per day. IOC, which controls about 40% of India’s refining capacity of 2.3 million bpd, plans to import additional crude oil and pump it 1500km across using a pipeline that currently transports petroleum products. The pipeline links the western port town of Kandla to Bhatinda in the northern state of Punjab. It will be connected with the refinery at Panipat by extending the pipeline by another 200km and will pump 140,000 bpd of crude. Indian refiners are facing an over-capacity as sales of petroleum products has been falling for almost two years, forcing several companies to review their expansion plans. State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd plans to build a new 180,000-bpd refinery at Bhatinda but the firm is being privatised in a few months and industry officials say the new owner was unlikely to invest in a new refinery.
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