The much-awaited Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) import and underground storage terminal in Visakhapatnam, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh was formally inaugurated by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Murli Deora, this week.
The union minister also inaugurated the golden jubilee celebrations of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) on the occasion.
The commissioning of South Asia’s first of its kind 60,000 MT capacity Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) underground cavern storage facility commenced on 26 December 2007 with in-take from 40000 MT capacity VLGC (Very Large Gas Carrier) "Maharshi Bharadwaj" of Varun Shipping. The Cargo of 39200 MT LPG was arranged by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) for the PSU Oil Marketing Companies from Saudi Arabia. This is the first time such a very large vessel has entered the country with full LPG cargo.
The Cavern, which is the first of its kind in South and South-East Asia, is set up by the South Asia LPG Company Limited (SALPG), which is a 50:50 joint venture between the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and TOTAL, a French Oil major. The Rs. 333-crore project has come up at Lova Garden near Dolphin’s nose hill in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The foundation for the project was laid on February 19, 2004
The Cavern has been dug in solid hard rock to store LPG at 162 M below mean sea level (MSL). The deepest portion of the cavern is 196 M below MSL. The storage facility is made up of two caverns of 19 M height, 20 M base width and 160 M in length with interconnections. The cavern is designed on “water containment principle” and is jacketed with water curtain. Besides being safe from natural calamities and hazards like sabotage, and aerial bombings, the caverns are leak and fireproof.
The Cavern is expected to ease the storage constraints on the eastern coast and will enable the Oil Industry meet the ever growing demand of LPG in the country. The large ocean cargoes are expected to bring-in freight economics. Further, the large parcels with higher tanker discharge rates will reduce the berth occupancy by LPG Vessels at Visakhapatnam Port.