France's Total SA and Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. are mulling a 25-30% stake in a refining and petrochemicals complex planned by Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) at Vishakhapatnam (Vizag). Estimated cost of the integrated project has been pegged at Rs 140 billion, with capacity of the petrochemicals plant estimated at one million tons and will include production of benzene and paraxylene.
HPCL currently runs a 150,000 bpd refinery that will be expanded to 300,000 bpd by mid-2008. The Vizag refinery, located on India's east coast, is an attractive option, as it provides opportunity to export. The two companies are considering the importance of refinery because it will serve as an important link for exports to China and south-east Asia markets.
In March this year, BP withdrew from their proposed joint venture for a US$3 billion refinery in Bhatinda in Punjab. At that time, HPCL had talks with Total for a stake in the Bhatinda refinery but decided to pursue the project alone.
07-Sep-06 
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