The Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL) recorded its highest-ever crude throughput of 11.71 million tonnes, which amounts to a capacity utilisation of 112%, for the year, ending March 31, 2026. This was made possible by sustained operational excellence.

“We did have stoppages for planned maintenance. But despite that, the three units in the Manali refinery ran smoothly, enabling us to sustain high utilisation throughout the year,” a company source said.

The CPCL’s oldest crude refinery unit achieved the best capacity so far, despite a turnaround. The second and third units each exceeded more than 30%.

The capacity realisation of the secondary units, the hydrocracker unit, and the fluid catalytic cracker unit (FCC) improved this year. “We controlled the pressure and temperature parameters very well. The FCC unit made a turnaround last year, which was also a reason for the improvement of capacity utilisation.”

The company continued to maintain its best-ever distillate yield, and the valuable products — including petrol, diesel, kerosene and ATF — obtained during the process of distillate rose to about 80% from 78% in 2023-24, underscoring our operational excellence and sustained focus on energy efficiency, the official said.

The CPCL also enjoyed the advantage of having a choice of crudes. “Since our parent company, Indian Oil, acquires crude in bulk, we get the crudes we need to make products, such as paraffin wax and lubes, with greater ease. We have over 160 crudes in our basket,” the source said.