It is reported that French oil major Total SA has pulled out of the planned USD 10 billion refinery cum petrochemical project at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh.
An official in the consortium led by Hindustan Petroleum said that “Total has informed us that they will like to put their participation in the project on hold for the time being.”
The official said that “The project is not going anywhere as of now. With Mittal and Total not participating, we have put the project on hold.”
ArcelorMittal had in November last year put on hold its investment in the project.
The only exports oriented 14 million tonne a year refinery was being planned to target South East Asia and Middle East. Fuel demand in Asia was at that time projected to rise by 5 million barrels a day in 10 years but has since slowed.
The five way alliance of state run refiner HPCL, explorer Oil India Ltd, gas utility GAIL India, Mittal and Total had done a pre-feasibility study for the project and the partners were scheduled to take an investment decision in the second half of 2009.
The global economic downturn has seen the reversal of fortunes for refiners with margins coming under severe pressure as fuel demand dropped in major markets in the US, Europe and South East Asia.
(Sourced from http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/2009/09/16/MTExOTI1/Total_SA_pulls_out_of_AP_refinery_project.html)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Total SA pulls out of AP refinery project
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