Pakistan’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, on Friday announced the government’s plan to build a new refinery to meet the country’s energy needs.
He revealed that the prime minister approved the project during a Cabinet Committee on Energy meeting. The estimated cost for the refinery is between Rs10-14 billion.
Malik also shared that the government has stopped giving gas to power plants and will instead provide 50 million cubic feet per day of gas to poor households. The government will take back cheap gas from the rich and provide it to the poor.
In addition, the government has formed a policy to provide cheaper energy using liquified natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and solar energy resources. Lastly, Malik revealed that Pakistan’s first purchase of Russian crude oil will dock at Karachi port in May.
Earlier last week, Malik had told Reuters that the government had made its first purchase of Russian crude oil, and cargo would dock at Karachi port in May. He said the country would seek to import 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude oil if the first transaction went smoothly.
Initially, the Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) would refine the crude oil in a trial run, to be followed later by Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO) and other refineries.
taking gas away from power plants we are in for a hard summer