MRPL falls 4% on reports company may shut crude unit for one week

NEW DELHI: Shares of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) tanked nearly 4 per cent on Monday amid reports the company was planning to shut its crude unit with a capacity of 1,80,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), for a about a week, from April 1 for maintenance.

The refiner, which operates a 3,00,000 bpd coastal refinery ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals (OMPL) in southern India, will also shut a diesel hydro-treater for about two weeks from April 1, a source told Reuters.

The stock fell 3.62 per cent to hit a low of Rs 61.25 on BSE. A total of 44 thousand stocks have changed hands so far, compared with a two-week average of 1.58 lakh shares on the exchange.

MRPL owns 51 per cent stake in OMPL. Its parent company, ONGC holds the remaining stake in the unit.

At 10.45 AM, ONGC was trading 0.56 per cent lower at Rs 213.35.

India Ratings in a recent note pointed out that refinery transfer prices (RTP) for petrol and diesel, which constitute bulk of the refinery yields, declined by around half as much as the fall in the Indian crude basket.

“The cost of fuel consumed per barrel of refined product has reduced by USD6-7, since most refiners either use crude oil or natural gas as the operating fuel for the refinery,” it said.