BP pulls out of Bathinda refinery but HPCL says project is on

Mumbai, Mar 24 (UNI) The State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) today informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that British oil giant BP had pulled out of the Bhatinda refinery, but said its subsidiary company is in the process of raising private equity for funding the ongoing exploration and production initiatives, indicating it would not abandon the refinery project in Punjab.

'' British Petroleum has conveyed that they are not investing in the joint venture project in Bhatinda refinery project being implemented by a 100 per cent subsidiary of the HPCL,'' the company said but added '' Prize Petroleum, its joint venture company, is in the process of raising private equity for funding the ongoing E&P initiatives''. The discussions with prospective investors are in progress and the response is encouraging, HPCL said in a release.

British Petroleum had signed the letter of intent on October 13, 2005 with the Indian PSU to form the JV to set up the USD 3 billion project.

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