HPCL shut Vizag refinery for cyclone Hudhud

Official says no major damage to refinery, will be back to full capacity in 4 days

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) shut its 166,000-barrels-per-day refinery in the port city of Visakhapatnam on Sunday morning as a "precautionary measure" against cyclone Hudhud, its head of refineries said.

"Some minor disturbance is there which needs to be corrected. Normally, it will take another three to four days to come back on line to full capacity," B K Namdeo, HPCL's director (refineries), told Reuters on Monday.

Vizag was hammered as the cyclone made landfall on Sunday, with gusts of up to 195 km per hour (over 120 mph), damaging buildings and killing at least five people despite a major evacuation effort.

Namdeo said the refinery, which employs close to 1,200, did not face any major damage except for some impact on the drainage systems and some uprooted trees.

The company is seeking approvals to expand the refinery's capacity to 300,000 bpd. It is also increasing capacity at its Mumbai refinery in western India to 200,000 bpd from 130,000 bpd.