Four state-owned Pakistani oil and gas companies have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia for a $10 billion green refinery project at
the Gwadar Port in Pakistan. The project will involve significant foreign
investment from renowned oil and gas giants, who will participate through equity.
The collaboration will be executed through a joint investment strategy, with the
Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan State Oil (PSO),
Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and Government Holdings Private Limited
(GHPL) taking part.
During the signing ceremony, Minister for State Musadiq Malik was present at the
ceremony as chief guest with Secretary Petroleum Captain Muhammad
Mahmood (retired). Malik highlighted that the Saudi Arabian oil firm expressed its
willingness to invest the entire equity in the multibillion-dollar refinery project,
leading the Pakistani government to opt for a joint venture with the mentioned
state-owned companies.
According to the plan, PSO, OGDCL, PPL, and GHPL will contribute 70 percent
equity, while Aramco will provide the initial 30 to 50 percent equity. Pakistan has
also signed an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with a
Chinese firm, as per Saudi Arabia’s requirements.
Malik mentioned that the establishment of the Greenfield Refinery will help
reduce the country’s trade deficit. He also highlighted some of the government’s
achievements in the past year, including the addition of 138 million cubic feet of
natural gas worth $570 million to the gas system and the upcoming inclusion of
$500 million worth of indigenous gas production.
The project envisions setting up an integrated refinery petrochemical complex
with a crude oil processing capacity of minimum 300,000 BPD along with
petrochemical facility in Pakistan. The integrated refinery petrochemical complex
shall comprise of various components such as marine infrastructure,
petrochemical complex, storages for crude oil and refines utilities, pipeline
connectivity etc.
