HPCL seeks gas oil as Bathinda refinery starts maintenance: Sources

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd is seeking gas oil amid planned maintenance at its 1,80,000 barrels-per-day Bathinda refinery, three industry sources said on Thursday.

The company is seeking 60,000 tonnes of gas oil with a sulphur content of 40 parts per million for delivery into Visakhapatnam over May 25 to 30, a tender document seen by Reuters showed.

The tender closes on May 15.

HPCL seldom imports gas oil 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 to 9 percent 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.