HPCL says Vishakhapatnam refinery to run at full rate by end of September

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) aims to operate its fire-hit 166,000 barrels per day Vizag refinery at full capacity by the end of this month, V V R Narasimham, executive director of the plant, said on Friday.

HPCL had partly shut the refinery on August 23 after a fire in one of its two cooling towers.

"Currently we are in process of making alternative arrangement, which should be done in next few days," Mr Narasimham told Reuters.

He said HPCL will use its other cooling tower and partly revive the damaged unit to cool the refined products.

"We aim to process crude at full capacity of about 24,000 tonnes a day by the end of this month," he added.

Copyright @ Thomson Reuters 2013