Emergency LPG import ordered

HYDROTREATER

What is Hydrotreater? A hydrotreater is an unit in an oil refinery that is used to treat products such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel. It is used to remove undesirable compounds of elements such as sulphur and nitrogen.   Reliance Press Statement: This morning at about 10.40 A.M., there was a fire in one of the secondary processing units (VGO Hydrotreater - II) of refinery at Jamnagar. One of the Reliance personnel is seriously injured. There are no other casualties. The fire has been brought under control by Reliance Plant and Fire Fighting personnel in less than two hours. The exact extent of damage to the VGO Hydrotreater II unit, which is one of the 40 units in the refinery complex, is being assessed. As a pre-cautionary measure, the neighbouring Diesel Hydrotreating Unit - II has been shut down safely. We expect to re-start the same shortly. All other refinery units, including both the crude units and petrochemical units, are operating normally.

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Keywords: Fire, Jamnagar Refinery

New Delhi: After a fire at the Reliance Industries Ltd refinery, the government has decided to order emergency imports of LPG in order to avoid shortfall in cooking gas supplies.

Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18 Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said: “For the next few days the LPG availability maybe difficult but we have already initiated alternate arrangements, the expected shortfall in LPG is tune of 100,000 ton, which will be made up by us through imports.”

Earlier in the day, the fire broke out at Reliance Industries Ltd's Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat.

The refinery has been shut after the fire and is expected to be closed for at least 10 days, an official at the petroleum ministry said.

Srinivasan also said: “We expect a shortfall as a result of this fire, which will take about 10 days for them to set right, it is about 100,000 tonnes. The disruption could last as many as 10 days in the eight-year-old facility which has an overall annual petroleum refining capacity of 27 mln tons.”

He added that the damage is very minimal and within next ten days they must be able to put it right because it is an isolated small unit. The main crude distillation units are continuing in operation.

Speaking to a television network Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said the government is taking measures to stave off any shortfall in LPG.

“So as people are not inconvenienced, we are going to import LPG,” he added.

Jamnagar is India's biggest refinery producing between 32 and 40 million tonnes of petrol and diesel annually.

It accounts for 24 per cent of India's refining capacity and produces 6,50,000 barrels of oil.