GWADAR: A Saudi delegation, headed by Saudi Minister for Energy, Industry and Minerals Khalid Abdul Aziz Al Falih, arrived in Gwadar on Saturday to inspect the land allocated for a proposed oil refinery, Radio Pakistan reported. Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan welcomed the visiting delegation.
Speaking on the occasion, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said, “Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a distinctive relationship,” adding that the state-of-the-art oil refinery is the biggest investment project of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan.
Sarwar said that during the upcoming visit of the Saudi crown prince to Pakistan in February, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the oil refinery would also be signed.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are likely to ink an agreement to install the Saudi Aramco Oil Refinery at the oil city located in Gwadar.
Saudi and Pakistani authorities will also sign a MoU to set up $10 billion oil refinery at the deep seaport which is also the terminal point of the multi-billion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The Pak Arab Refinery (Parco), a joint venture between Pakistan and Abu Dhabi, is also working on Khalifa refinery project with a total refining capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. At present, Parco is the largest refinery in Pakistan that has a refining capacity of 100,000 barrels per day.
Officials said Saudi Arabia and the UAE had announced the same packages for Pakistan and Riyadh was likely to set up a refinery with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. At present, the total refining capacity of Pakistan is around 300,000 barrels per day.
