BPCL seeks 70,000 tonnes petrol to plug supply gap

India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd is seeking gasoline in a rare move, due to a scheduled, month-long shutdown of a crude unit and a continuous catalytic reformer (CCR), sources said on Wednesday.

BPCL will shut a 100,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) crude unit for a month from July 29 and the CCR from August 6 at its 190,000-bpd Kochi refinery in Southern India, sources with knowledge of the plan said.

The state-owned refiner is seeking 70,000 tonnes of 91.5-octane gasoline with a maximum 0.004 per cent sulphur content in two equal lots for August 8-10 and August 20-22 arrival at Kochi, a tender document showed.

It has an option to buy an extra 35,000 tonnes for September 3-7 arrival at the same port through the same tender which closes on June 29, with offers to stay valid until July 3.

BPCL's unusual move to seek petrol came at a time when India's top refiner Indian Oil Corp plans extensive maintenance work at its key refineries.