Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) is seeking gasoil amid planned maintenance at its 180,000 barrels per day Bathinda refinery, three industry sources said on Thursday.
The company is seeking 60,000 tonne of gasoil with a sulphur content of 40 parts per million for delivery into Visakhapatnam from 25-30 May, a tender document seen by Reuters stated.
The tender closes on 15 May.
HPCL seldom imports gasoil in the spot market as the company is well-balanced with its demand and supply, the sources said.
It is seeking gasoil as its Bathinda refinery started planned maintenance this week that will last for about one-and-a-half months, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
India’s gasoil demand growth has slowed to about 3 per cent a year from a peak of 8-9 per cent after a government decision to abolish high-value currency bills hurt small businesses, the source said.
But increased infrastructure projects will likely cause a rebound in demand for the industrial and transport fuel by second half of the year or first half of next year, the source said.
