Hindustan Petroleum venturing into the African lubes market

Sanjay Kumar Executive Director-Lubes at HPCL.

Tell us more about Hindustan Petroleum Company:

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, a strategically important player in Oil and Gas sector in India, is an Indian Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) in downstream Petroleum Refining and Marketing sector. It operates two refineries in Mumbai (Maharashtra) & Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh, with a combined production capacity of 20.5 MMTPA. HPCL has a 48.99% stake in a JV with Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd for operating an 11.3 MMTPA refinery in Bhatinda (Punjab) & a 16.96% equity stake in Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd, which operates a 15 MMTPA refinery in Mangalore (Karnataka). The Company is setting up a 9 MMTPA greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Pachpadra (Rajasthan) through HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) with an equity stake of 74%.

It is one of the select few PSEs in India with Maharatna status, implying higher operational and financial autonomy.

In lubricants business, HPCL has remained the Largest Lubes Marketer (with 17% market share in finished lubes in 2022) in India since FY 2014. It owns and operates the largest Base Oils refinery in India (with 41% market share). With 126 Industrial Distributors, 304 Aftermarket Distributors, 15 International Distributors, 5 strategically placed manufacturing facilities in India and several toll-blending facilities abroad, HPCL’s strength in lubricant business lies in strong brand recall, backed up with robust distribution network.

What is driving HP to invest in the African Lubricants market?

HPCL firmly believes that Africa will be driving global economic growth in near future. With our products & services designed and developed for an economy like India, we firmly believe that we are best suited to be solution providers for lubricants requirement of African countries. We wish to partner and be fellow travelers as Africa begins its glorious journey of economic growth.

Which markets/industries are you operating in and targeting?

We operate across all sectors of economy and would be keen to be present the same in new geographies. Our lubricants and specialty grades are used in primary, secondary & tertiary sectors at competitive price points with quality assurance & product innovation of a major brand. We would be targeting presence in Mobility, Manufacturing, Agriculture

& Marine sectors.

What is your product offering in the African market?

We have products spread across entire range of Consumer, Commercial, Industrial and Marine application. We also manufacture genuine oil grades of many of the Indian Automotive OEMs, who also happen to have presence in many of the African countries, which we would attempt to tap into. Our products come branded as HP Lubricants.

Will you be importing or blending lubricants locally in the African market?

While we may commence our marketing through imports, we are keen to commence local blending through local industry players who are in the toll-blending operations.

What is the value proposition customers will get from buying your products?

Cost effective solutions across entire range of operations of a customer with product quality and innovation assurance of a major brand

In which countries can people find your products?

We are in the process of putting in place our Distribution channel across Africa. Our current arrangements are already in place at Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, & Ghana, which we are going to be constantly expanding. We are also available on https://www.hplubricants.in/hpcl-middle-east where the customers can reach out to us for immediate assistance on any lubricant related issues