HPCL Visakhapatnam Refinery Fire: What We Know So Far, Explained

A fire broke out on Monday, 2 November 2026, at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd's (HPCL) Visakh Refinery in Visakhapatnam. The Times of India said flames rose to considerable heights near an oil tank and that thick smoke spread over the Malkapuram and Sriharipuram industrial areas. People on adjoining roads filmed the blaze. Those videos spread on social media and added to the alarm among residents.

An HPCL official told The New Indian Express that the fire broke out in a pitch tank at the refinery's Residue Upgradation Facility (RUF). The official said the smoke was particularly thick because of the high viscosity of the product stored in the tank. Fire tenders were pressed into service immediately, the paper reported. The cause is not yet known. The extent of property damage is not yet known.

The 60-second version

• What: A fire at HPCL's Visakh Refinery in Visakhapatnam on Monday, 2 November 2026, with high flames and thick smoke.
• Where in the plant: An HPCL official told The New Indian Express it was a pitch tank at the RUF. The Times of India said flames erupted near a tank of Ruf Pitch Oil, used to make bitumen. Disha Daily reported a pitch tower unit.
• Injuries: The official told The New Indian Express that no known injuries or fatalities had been reported. HPCL sources cited by The Times of India said the same, on preliminary information.
• Cause and damage: Not yet known. The official said damage would be assessed on Tuesday. The Times of India said the exact cause was not established.
• Explosion talk: Rumours of a tank explosion spread. HPCL sources told The Times of India that possibility was considered low. Other outlets reported an explosion or explosion sounds. That is not confirmed.
• Response: In-house fire teams and engines from across the city reached the site. Officials cut power in the affected area and moved staff to safer places. Police put a cordon around the site.
• Operations: As of publication, HPCL had not issued a formal newsroom statement on whether refinery operations or fuel supply were affected.

Where reporters say the fire started

The Times of India, in a report timestamped 22:55 IST, described a massive fire on Monday evening. It said the flames erupted near a tank containing Ruf Pitch Oil and rose high enough to catch the eye of people on adjoining roads. The paper described Ruf Pitch Oil as an intermediate product used in the manufacture of bitumen.

The New Indian Express quoted an HPCL official who located the fire in a pitch tank at the RUF, and who linked the thick smoke to the viscosity of what was stored there. The official said:

"No known injuries or fatalities have been reported. The extent of property damage will be assessed tomorrow."

Disha Daily, in a Telugu report published on Monday evening, said flames rose suddenly in a pitch tower unit inside the refinery premises and spread toward nearby areas within moments. It said black smoke and the height of the flames sent residents of the surrounding area out of their homes.

Hindustan Times, in a version updated at 23:15 IST, placed the refinery in the Gajuwaka industrial area and said the fire broke out late on Monday night. An HPCL employee told the paper the blaze was believed to have started inside the premises.

These reports agree on a large fire, heavy smoke and a pitch or residue unit. They do not yet fix a single confirmed cause. Whether the pitch tank, the Ruf Pitch Oil tank and the pitch tower unit are the same piece of equipment has not been spelled out by HPCL.

Injuries, damage and what is still unknown

The firmest on-record line on harm is the one the HPCL official gave The New Indian Express: no known injuries or fatalities, with property damage to be assessed on Tuesday.

The Times of India, citing preliminary information from HPCL sources, also reported no injuries or casualties. It said officials were examining how the fire started.

Hindustan Times, later in the evening, used a more limited formulation. It said there was no immediate information about casualties or about how much damage the fire had caused, and that firefighters were still trying to bring the blaze completely under control. "No known casualties" and "no count yet" are not the same sentence. Until HPCL or the district administration publishes a formal update, both should be read as the state of reporting on Monday night, not as a closed investigation.

The cause is not yet known. The damage is not yet known.

Explosion reports, and what HPCL sources said

Claims of an explosion travelled faster than any confirmed finding.

The Times of India reported that rumours of an explosion in the oil tank spread across the industrial area. HPCL sources indicated that the possibility of a tank explosion was considered low. Officials were examining the circumstances, the paper said.

Other outlets framed the night as an explosion.

• Hindustan Times carried a report headlined as an explosion at the Hindustan Petroleum refinery, updated around 23:00 IST, which said an explosion took place on Monday. A later version of the story, updated at 23:15 IST, described a major fire and said an explosion was suspected. An HPCL employee told the paper: "We have heard sounds of an explosion in the area. Flames quickly spread to nearby areas, sending thick clouds of black smoke into the sky and engulfing the surrounding locality."
• India Today, in a report timestamped 23:01 IST, said a major explosion had been reported at an oil refinery in Visakhapatnam. It said visuals showed high flames and thick smoke, and that the cause and whether anyone was injured were still awaited.
• Deccan Chronicle, in a short report timestamped 10:34 pm, said a massive fire had broken out following reports of sudden explosion sounds, that thick smoke was billowing over nearby neighbourhoods, and that there was reportedly no loss of life. It marked the piece as a developing story. The same report cited sources who said the fire broke out after a trial run went awry, with sulphur left out as a byproduct. HPCL has not confirmed that account.

A tank explosion is a claim under scrutiny, not an established fact. The HPCL sources cited by The Times of India treated that possibility as low. Hearing an explosion, which is what the employee told Hindustan Times, is not the same as a finding that a tank blew up.

How the refinery and the city responded

The New Indian Express said fire tenders were sent in immediately and that crews were working to bring the fire under control.

Disha Daily reported a wider response. The refinery's in-house fire teams and fire engines from different parts of the city reached the site. As a precaution, plant officials cut the power supply and moved staff in the affected area to safe places. Police set up a cordon so people would not enter the area around the site. The paper said firefighting was continuing.

Hindustan Times reported the same steps: internal teams, engines from across the city, power suspended in the affected area, personnel moved out, and police deployed to keep people from entering. It said those efforts were still going on late on Monday night.

No report available at publication said the fire had been declared out.

What the Residue Upgradation Facility is

The unit the HPCL official named is a recent addition. Construction World reported in November 2026 that HPCL chairman and managing director Vikas Kaushal said the company commissioned a residue upgradation facility at its Visakhapatnam refinery at the beginning of the year. He said the facility converts bottom-of-the-barrel material into diesel and other light distillates, at a conversion rate of 93 per cent. He described it as one of the most complex deep-conversion technologies and said HPCL was working to optimise its operations.

Those comments were about the unit's role. They were not a briefing on Monday's fire. Kaushal has not, in the reporting reviewed for this article, spoken about the blaze.

Earlier fires at the same refinery

Two older incidents are context only. They do not explain Monday's fire.

On 19 September 2025, Deccan Chronicle reported a brief fire in the new RUF after hydrogen leaked from a transmitter pipe and ignited. District Fire Officer S. Renukaiah said automatic sprinklers brought the fire down immediately, after which fire tenders controlled the situation. He said there was no loss of life and no injuries to any worker. HPCL officer K. Kai Prasad told the paper it was a small leak and that work resumed immediately. That was a separate incident, more than a year before Monday.

On 25 May 2021, HPCL said in a press release that a fire broke out in the afternoon in a crude distillation unit at Visakh Refinery, the unit called CDU III. The company said safety systems were activated at once, the affected unit was shut down, and its Fire and Safety department extinguished the fire in a swift operation using six fire tenders, with support from the district administration, the state disaster response and fire services, and other agencies including the Naval Dockyard. HPCL said there were no casualties and no injuries, and no risk to the public. It said the other distillation units and the secondary processing units were operating normally, and that product supply would not be disrupted.

HPCL has not said whether other units kept running after Monday's fire, or whether supply will be affected this time.

What the share price did before the fire

HPCL shares were already higher on Monday morning, hours before the evening fire reports. That move is not a reaction to the blaze.

Moneycontrol said HPCL gained 2.04% to Rs 347.50 on the NSE in morning trade as Brent crude futures slipped below $110 a barrel. It put the Brent drop at 3.3%, to $109.67. Outlook Money, recording prices at 9:32 am, said HPCL was up 2.40% at Rs 347.65, and linked the early rise in oil-marketing stocks to easier crude and a government revision of fuel export duties.

Investors will watch Tuesday's session. Nothing in the Monday morning trade says how the stock will open after the fire, and this article does not guess. HPCL has not, as of publication, put a formal statement on its newsroom about operations or product supply. Whether the fire affects output is not yet known.

What to watch next

1. Whether the fire is fully out. The latest Monday-night reports still had crews working to bring it under control.
2. Tuesday's damage check. The HPCL official who spoke to The New Indian Express said the extent of property damage would be assessed then.
3. A formal casualty update from HPCL or the Visakhapatnam district administration, beyond "none known so far" and "no immediate information".
4. The cause. It is not established. That includes whether explosion reports, and the unconfirmed trial-run account in Deccan Chronicle, hold up.
5. Any statement on operations and supply. Until HPCL says so, a disruption is not something to assert.
6. Tuesday's share trade, after a morning gain that happened before the fire and had nothing to do with it.

The fire is confirmed. A death toll is not. Neither is the cause, the damage, or any effect on fuel supply.

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Updated on the night of 2 November 2026 from reports by The New Indian Express, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, India Today, Deccan Chronicle and Disha Daily, plus an HPCL press release of 25 May 2021 and a Construction World report of comments by chairman Vikas Kaushal. Injury, damage and cause were still incomplete at publication. Morning share prices are from Moneycontrol and Outlook Money and pre-date the fire. Check HPCL and the district administration for later updates.