India's SCI to Sail to Iran
India's biggest shipping company Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will resume sailing to Iran this month after a hiatus of about four years, reports Reuters. The company says it will accordingly use one of its Suezmax-sized tankers to ship an oil cargo for state-refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) from Iran. "It is not yet decided ... which SCI-owned vessel is going to Iran," said SCI Chairman B.B. Sinha. SCI stopped sailing to Iran in 2012 when sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear programme prevented the company obtaining insurance cover for oil and other shipments. SCI had contracts with HPCL, Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd to ship crude from Iran, he said.
HPCL to Expand Mumbai, Vizag Refinery Capacity
India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) aims to increase its Mumbai refinery's capacity to 200,000 barrels per day from 130,000 bpd, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The state-run company also aims to increase the Vizag refinery's capacity to 300,000 bpd from 166,000 bpd. HPCL will spend 170 billion rupees ($2.88 billion) for expanding the refineries, said B.K. Namdeo, HPCL's head of refineries. "After getting the environment approval, we hope to complete Vizag expansion in three years and the Mumbai plan in two to two-and-a-half years," Namdeo said. He said he hopes HPCL should be able to get the environment approval by the end of this year. ($1 = 59.0250 Indian Rupees) (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
