Refineries in Pakistan to invest $4-5 billion on upgradation

Refineries in Pakistan will invest $4-5 billion on upgradation to increase local production, according to an official document shared on Friday.

The country’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has executed an agreement with Pakistan Refinery Limited, under which its Karachi plant will be upgraded at a cost of $1.8 billion.

Draft agreements with Attock Refinery Limited and National Refinery Limited to upgrade their plants at a cost of $1.3 billion have also been finalized.

Moreover, upgradation agreements with Pak-Arab Refinery Limited and Cynergico of around $1.4 billion are being finalized.

OGRA has so far issued 202 licenses to companies in the oil sector, which include five refineries, 42 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), three oil storage companies, two pipeline companies, 80 lube blending/reclamation plants, and 70 lubricant marketing companies.

In the natural gas sector, OGRA has issued 43 licenses, which include six integrated licenses, 15 transmission licenses, 16 Natural gas/RLNG sale agreements, and six flare gas sale licenses.

In the oil logistics sector, licensed OMCs have completed and commissioned new oil storages of around 544, 570 million tons storage — 362,538 million tons petrol and 182,032 million tons diesel — with an investment of around PKR 38 billion, according to the document. This has strengthened the national oil supply chain.