India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is looking to import fuel in early November under a rare import tender, after the state-controlled refiner was forced to close a gasoline-producing unit at its Mumbai refinery due to a contamination issue, sources with knowledge of the tender told Reuters on Tuesday.
HPCL on Monday said its Mumbai refinery, one of the two large refineries the company operates in India, faced “operational issues” after processing crude from Hindustan Oil Exploration Co.’s (HOECL) B-80 Mumbai Offshore oil field.
“A part of the said crude oil received subsequently was processed in October 2025 and found to be causing operational issues including corrosion in downstream units, yielding suboptimal outputs and turned down production,” HPCL said earlier this week.
Refinery parts have suffered corrosion, potentially as a result of very high salt and chloride content in the crude oil. These have exceeded the parameters in the contractual terms of Crude Offtake Sales Agreement with HOECL, the refiner said, adding it would seek damages.
On Tuesday, HPCL’s chairman Vikas Kaushal told Reuters that the refiner had closed its gasoline-producing continuous catalytic reformer during the processing of the contaminated crude.
HPCL said it is working to return to normal operations as soon as safe and possible.
As a result of the low fuel output in recent days, HPCL is now looking to import fuels, via a tender closing on Tuesday for cargoes arriving in early November, according to Reuters’ sources.
Separately, Indian refiners have reportedly suspended new orders for Russian crude. The refining industry in Russia’s second-biggest crude buyer after China awaits clarity from the government about navigating the new U.S. sanction context, Reuters reports, citing unnamed sources.
Reliance Industries, one of Rosneft’s biggest clients in India, has turned to the spot market for crude oil deliveries, while Indian Oil has launched a tender for oil cargoes.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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