India’s state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp has delayed until next year refinery expansion projects at Bombay and Visakhapatnam, the firm's chairman, M B Lal, said.

The company is expanding the capacity of its Bombay refinery to 7.9 million tonnes a year, or about 158,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 110,000 bpd and upgrading the plant at Visakhapatnam to 168,000 bpd from 150,000 bpd.
The projects were scheduled to be completed this year.
“The refineries will be shut down for maintenance and upgradation in the first quarter of next year,” Lal said on the sidelines of a business conference.
He said HPCL’s capital expenditure in the year to March 2007 would be $270 million and would include refinery upgrading and the setting up of 850 new petrol stations to expand its network of 7,000 outlets.
India has a surplus refining capacity, but several refiners are expanding production hoping to boost exports.
Analysts had cautioned that several projects, including some new refineries such as Essar's refinery in western India, may be delayed.
In January, Indian Oil Corp, said plans to double the capacity of its 120,000-bpd Panipat refinery had been delayed by two months to May.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, said earlier  it would spend $1.8 billion to boost its refinery capacity to 300,000 bpd from 194,000 bpd.
Some analysts say that a global rush to build new refineries and expand old ones could lead to a slump in the refining sector between 2008 and 2010.
But they disagree over whether to expect a sharp dive into another cycle of despair or a mild dip.
India's former oil minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, had urged state refiners to boost capacity and export refined products.