Representative image. IM3847, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The Visakh refinery is HPCL's larger refinery and sits beside homes in Malkapuram and Sriharipuram, so a fire there worries thousands of nearby residents. Officials said nobody was hurt and the smoke was not considered hazardous, but the cause, and whether there was a blast, are still open. The promised safety enquiry is where those answers should come from.
The HPCL Vizag refinery fire started in a storage tank at the company’s plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on the night of Monday, 2 November 2026, sending tall flames and thick smoke over the Malkapuram industrial area. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), the state-run oil company that runs the plant, said the fire was confined to one tank, was brought under control quickly and caused no casualties. Police and district officials also said nobody was hurt.
The cause has not been given. HPCL’s statement did not say what started the fire, and the city’s Police Commissioner said the company was yet to confirm it, according to reports by the news agency PTI (Press Trust of India) and the business channel CNBC TV18. So the HPCL Vizag refinery fire is, for now, an incident without an official explanation.
What HPCL said about the Visakhapatnam refinery fire
In a statement posted on X and carried by Reuters and The Economic Times, HPCL said a fire was reported at a “pitch intermediate storage tank” at its Visakh Refinery at around 10 pm on 2 November. The refinery’s own Fire and Safety Team started firefighting and emergency measures straight away, the company said. It added that the fire stayed within the pitch tank area and that all units of the refinery were working safely.
Pitch is the thick, dark residue left at the bottom after petrol, diesel and gas oils have been taken out of crude oil, Reuters explained. The Times of India, citing HPCL sources, described the tank’s contents as Ruf pitch oil, an in-between product used to make bitumen for roads.
Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi said there were no casualties. CNBC TV18 reported that, according to police, power to the affected section was switched off as a precaution and staff were moved to safer spots, and that authorities did not consider the smoke hazardous.
HPCL Vizag refinery fire: blast or no blast?
Videos of the Visakhapatnam refinery fire, showing a towering column of flame, spread quickly on social media that night, and residents of nearby Malkapuram and Sriharipuram talked of hearing a bang. The accounts given by officials do not fully match on this point, or on the time and the firefighting. NewsPlainly has put them side by side.
| Who said it | Time | What burned | Blast? | Firefighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HPCL statement | About 10 pm | Pitch intermediate storage tank | Not mentioned | Refinery’s own Fire and Safety Team |
| Malkapuram station house officer (SHO) E Narasimha, to The Indian Express | About 9.45 pm | Sulphur storage tank | “There was a blast in this tank” | Six fire tenders; under control within an hour |
| Malkapuram Circle Inspector E Narasimha Rao (India Today, Economic Times) | Not given | Sulphur pitch in the sulphur unit | Not mentioned | HPCL’s own fire tenders; no outside help needed |
| RDO Dileep Chakravarthy (Economic Times) | Not given | Not given | A small blast, then the fire | Plant’s equipment and AP Fire Department equipment |
| HPCL sources (Times of India) | Monday evening | Tank of Ruf pitch oil | Tank explosion considered unlikely | Not given |
None of the officials quoted gave a cause for the HPCL Vizag refinery fire. Police call the product “sulphur pitch”, while HPCL’s statement calls it pitch. The other differences, on the time, the firefighting and a possible blast, have not been settled by any later official account. CNBC TV18 reported that authorities had not confirmed a blast or whether any blast was linked to the fire.
Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Dileep Chakravarthy, who visited the site, told reporters that, after the HPCL refinery fire, an enquiry into industrial safety would be held under the applicable safety norms, The Economic Times reported. He asked people not to panic and said the fire was fully under control.
How big the Visakhapatnam refinery is
The plant hit by the HPCL refinery fire stands in Malkapuram and is one of the company’s two refineries. It can process 15 million tonnes of crude oil a year (MTPA, million tonnes per annum), against 9.5 MTPA at the company’s Mumbai refinery, according to the figures in Reuters’ report.
It is also old. Caltex Oil Refining India commissioned it in 1957 as the first oil refinery on India’s east coast, with room for just 0.675 MTPA. The Caltex business was nationalised in 1976 and merged into HPCL in 1978, and the plant has been expanded in phases since. By NewsPlainly’s calculation, today’s 15 MTPA is about 22 times its starting capacity (15 divided by 0.675).
Has the Visakhapatnam refinery had a fire before?
Yes. On 25 May 2021, a fire broke out in one of the refinery’s crude processing units in the afternoon, Mint reported at the time. HPCL said then that the fire was put out, that there were no casualties and no risk to the public, and that its other units were running normally. The then District Collector, V Vinay Chand, also said nobody was hurt.
That 2021 fire hit a processing unit. In the HPCL Vizag refinery fire of 2026, by HPCL’s account, the fire was in a storage tank, and the company says every unit kept working.
What is still not known about the HPCL refinery fire
Three things remain open after the night’s statements. The first is the cause: police said HPCL was examining the incident, and HPCL’s statement did not name a cause. The second is whether there was a blast, which officials have described differently. The third is any damage to the tank itself, which the company’s statement did not describe.
The safety enquiry mentioned by the RDO is the next official step on record for the Visakhapatnam refinery fire, and its findings, if made public, should answer the open questions. HPCL’s statement said nothing about any effect on fuel supply, and it said all units were working. Readers in Visakhapatnam can follow updates from the district administration and the city police. More stories from the state are on our Andhra Pradesh page, and our earlier explainer on India’s crude basket covers the oil that refineries like this one process.
Frequently asked questions
Was anyone hurt in the HPCL Vizag fire?
No. HPCL, Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi and the RDO all said there were no casualties.
What caught fire at the HPCL Visakh refinery?
HPCL said it was a pitch intermediate storage tank. Police described it as a sulphur pitch tank, and HPCL sources told The Times of India it held Ruf pitch oil, used to make bitumen.
Was there an explosion at the HPCL refinery?
Accounts differ. The local SHO and the RDO spoke of a blast, HPCL's statement did not mention one, and HPCL sources told The Times of India a tank explosion was unlikely.
Is the HPCL Vizag refinery still working?
HPCL said all units of the refinery were working safely after the fire was controlled.