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ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Arab Oil Refinery (Parco) will begin building Pakistan's biggest oil refinery in Balochistan's Hub area, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirmed to DawnNews.
The $5 billion Khalifa Coastal Oil Refinery, which will have a production capacity of 250,000 barrels per day, is expected to be completed within five years, Abbasi said.
A petroleum ministry official told DawnNews that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would perform the groundbreaking of the project this year.
The project had initially been announced in 2007 and was to be built with financial assistance from the Abu Dhabi-based International Petroleum Investment Company but was scrapped in 2012 due to unavailability of funds.
The federal government and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have 60:40 ownership of Parco, which will fund the project with its current and expected profits, the petroleum minister said.
A 250 MegaWatt power-plant will also be built to assist the refinery's construction.
Due to increasing demand and limited production capacity, the government imports approximately $14bn worth petroleum products. The project is being undertaken to eradicate reliance on imports, Abbasi said.
Parco's current oil refinery in Kot Addu was also developed with the UAE's assistance.
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On DawnNews
Comments (34) Closed
Jul 01, 2016 04:26pm
Good initiative for Balochistan to create investment and jobs.
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Jul 01, 2016 05:06pm
A very good step towards the development of Balochistan and ultimately the Pakistan.
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Jul 01, 2016 05:10pm
and where will the oil come from?
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Jul 01, 2016 05:15pm
we need to have one refinery at Gwadar also. Now is the time to start the project
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Jul 01, 2016 05:25pm
@Ahmed32 oil will come from any part of world my dear ,
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Jul 01, 2016 05:25pm
Good news,
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Jul 01, 2016 05:26pm
Good news
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Jul 01, 2016 05:28pm
@Ahmed32 - Where oil comes from already - that's "where the oil will come from"...duh!
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Jul 01, 2016 05:36pm
Good job. Investment on something which is meeting its dead end.
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Jul 01, 2016 05:42pm
Good News...any investment is good investment...will this mean that our relations with Abu Dhabi are improving...We must have very strong relations with...China,
UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, All Gulf Countries, Turkey, and Russia...
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Jul 01, 2016 05:44pm
Thank you nawaz Sharif yet again
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Jul 01, 2016 05:49pm
Good decision but no kickbacks please.
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Jul 01, 2016 06:05pm
We may even be able to export refined products! Amazing move!
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Jul 01, 2016 06:09pm
Also I think Gwadar would have been a better option. Maybe if this one works out, they will invest in Gwadar too.
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Jul 01, 2016 06:14pm
Good news. Hope it is implemented with sincerity! congrats Pakistan!
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Jul 01, 2016 06:45pm
Looks like Abu Dhabi have recalibratedtheir priorities post Yemen war exit
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Jul 01, 2016 07:01pm
Wow, Great news if this goes to plan and there is no political interference. Hopefully all people of Balochistan will welcome this development.
It is also a good decision by our national Government.
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Jul 01, 2016 07:33pm
bravo Pakistan, continue in this way
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Jul 01, 2016 07:37pm
We need to have always good relations with UAE. They are smart guys and know how to do business.
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Jul 01, 2016 07:36pm
@SAEED MASOOD excellent idea
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Jul 01, 2016 07:51pm
@Truth It has nothing to with NS my Punjabi brother, credit goes to Musharraf who started such initiatives as you can see it was officially incepted in 2007 and during his reign FDR in Pak hit at record levels including such endeavors from the ME.
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Jul 01, 2016 08:03pm
Awesome thanks Nawaz.
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Jul 01, 2016 08:26pm
@Ahmed32 the oil will come from the ME but that is still better than importing refined products such as diesel. Crude oil is extremely dense and each barrel yields multiple barrels of different products. So this is still good news and we should smile for it, rather than looking to find problems in it.
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Jul 01, 2016 08:27pm
More good work by Nawaz Sharif
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Jul 01, 2016 08:53pm
Good move if serious with the project.
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Jul 01, 2016 09:09pm
World's largest oil refinery is India's Reliance Jamnagar Refinery with 1.24 million barrels per day.
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Jul 01, 2016 11:30pm
The Capital cost for building oil Refineries is around US$10000 per barrel of refining capacity.Please check cost of Reliance and other refineries.Thus oil Refinery cost must not exceed US$3 Billion for 250000 barrel per day.
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Jul 01, 2016 11:58pm
With the present petroleum minister, we have a better chance of getting this project completed.
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Jul 02, 2016 06:07am
Good.
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Jul 02, 2016 06:09am
Good job and progress for Pakistan.
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Jul 02, 2016 06:24am
@Ahmed32 - Does it really matter from where the feedstock comes? It is certainly a non-issue. Many options are available - locally produced crude oil, imported one or combination of the two.
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Jul 02, 2016 09:49am
All thoughts are good it will improve balochistan economy but one thing which i have feeled that there is no byepass to hub city there must be a byepass because its industrial city and u are going to have this plant too think about this please too
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Jul 02, 2016 03:16pm
@Arsalan yes musharf and people around him only made the projects in papers and taken the money home.
But nawaz sharif made the projects in reality.
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Jul 02, 2016 08:41pm
I was running a $7 billion petrochemical complex JV in UAE in late 2009 as Senior Program Director for a US company. ADNOC Officials informed me that UAE Was prepared to make this refinery investment in that period. The stumbling block was the Pakistan Governments insistence to have their own CEO, while ADNOC wanted their own nominated CEO of Pakistani origin.
This disagreement led toADNOC withdrawing from this venture.
I would strongly recommend that a serious investor like ADNOC willing to make such a large investment and also supply the oil, be provided the ability to manage their own project professionally.
Come on guys, let's become professional in our project development efforts.
Khurshid Rashid
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