The Hindu : Business : HPCL commissions underground cavern

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Friday, Dec 28, 2007
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HPCL commissions underground cavern

Imports 39,200 tonnes of LPG from Saudi Arabia

FIRST OF ITS KIND: Maharishi Bharadwaj, the largest LPG tanker to ever enter India, unloading LPG to the HPCL refinery at Vizag port. The gas will be stored in the South-Asia’s first LPG cavern.

NEW DELHI: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) on Thursday announced the commissioning of its 60,000-tonne liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) underground cavern storage facility in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

The facility on Thursday received a 40,000-tonne Very Large Gas Carrier ‘Maharshi Bharadwaj’ of Varun Shipping, a company press release said here.

HPCL imported 39,200 tonnes LPG from Saudi Arabia to supplement domestic production that falls 40 per cent short of demand.

“This is the first time such a large vessel has entered the country with full LPG cargo,” the release said.

The cavern, a first of its kind in South and Southeast Asia, is set up by South Asia LPG Co Ltd (SALPG) — a 50:50 joint venture between HPCL and Total of France.

The Rs. 333-crore project has come up at Lova Garden near Dolphin’s nose hill in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The foundation for the project was laid on February 19, 2004.

Designed on ‘water containment principle’ and jacketed with water curtain, the facility is safe from natural calamities and hazards like sabotage and aerial bombings, besides being leakproof and fireproof. — PTI

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