Indian refiner Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited plans to boost the crude oil refining capacity at its Manali refinery by a third to 280,000 barrels per day (bpd), the refiner said in its 2025/2026 report.
Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) is a subsidiary of the country’s top state-controlled refiner, Indian Oil Corporation. The refinery at Manali, Chennai, has facilities to produce fuels, lubricants, waxes, and petrochemicals.
The current capacity of 210,000 bpd will be increased to 280,000 bpd under CPCL’s plan, which did not give a timeline for the expansion.
CPCL had another small refinery, Cauvery Basin Refinery (CBR), in Nagapattinam, but it was decommissioned in 2019, due to limitations in meeting product specifications with the existing configuration.
Set OilPrice.com as a preferred source in Google .
Chennai Petroleum planned to rebuild the Cauvery Basin Refinery to upgrade it to specifications, but earlier this year it shifted the focus of the plan from a refinery to a petrochemicals complex. Cauvery will now be prioritized as a petrochemicals site, with CPCL’s parent company Indian Oil Corporation holding a 75% stake in the project. The pivot to petrochemicals reflects the soaring domestic and global demand for petrochemicals and specialty chemicals.
The Cauvery project in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu will be reconfigured to “enhance petrochemical intensity”, Chennai Petroleum said in its annual report.
Planned expansions of oil refining capacity is set to lead India’s energy investments this year and in the coming years, alongside solar installations, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its World Energy Investment 2026 report earlier this year.
Over the past five years, India’s energy investment has increased by 11% on average, with solar PV investment up by 25% in this period, and investment in oil refining jumping by 23%, according to the report.
Together, these two sectors have contributed to one-fourth of India’s energy investment growth.
The increase in oil refining investments has put India on track for a 15% increase in refining capacity by 2030, the IEA said.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- India’s Imports of Russian Crude Hit New High in July
- Shell Sells European Onshore Renewables Portfolio to TotalEnergies
- Australian Regulator Wants Tougher Pollution Rules for Darwin LNG Plants
