The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been offered potential sites in Pakistan to set up a state of the art oil refinery.
According to sources two locations have been offered in Hub and Gwadar. It has been decided that Pakistan should offer one location aligned with investor’s preferences. A 600-km oil pipeline connecting Gwadar to the main oil hub, Karachi, would be needed to make the Saudi investment worthwhile, and, according to the feasibility report prepared by Aramco, the transportation of processed oil from Gwadar would be too expensive even then.
In the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia it is expected that this development will be finalised. Saudi Arabia is encouraging major Saudi Arabian companies to expand their business internationally and offering government help and resources through the National Companies Promotion Programme if they are not currently active abroad.
In 2019, the Kingdom had announced plans for a $ 10 billion oil refinery at Gwadar port, but logistics issues hampered the project.
According to sources close to the matter it is expected that Pakistan will offer Saudi investors some exceptional incentives in special economic zones in Pakistan. Agriculture, mining, renewable energy, food processing, refineries, petrochemicals and information technology have been identified as potential areas of investment.
