In a significant move to achieve self-reliance in the oil production sector, the government has given a task to Pakistan Arab Refinery Company (PARCO) to complete the much delayed multi-billion-dollar Khalifa Coastal Oil Refinery project.
"PARCO has been given the task to complete the project having capacity to refine 250,000 barrels oil per day - equal to 13 million tons of petroleum products per year," official sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told APP.
The sources informed that the groundbreaking of the project was likely to be performed this year, and it would be completed within five years.
Presently, they said 70 percent of the current oil demand is met through import and the government had planned to set up more oil refineries in the coming days. The government has allotted 1,000 acres of land for the refinery project, being executed at a cost of around $5 billion. The project, approved in October 2007, was suspended several times due to paucity of funds, they added.
PARCO is a joint venture between Pakistan and Abu Dhabi in which Pakistan holds 60 per cent shares while Abu Dhabi has a 40 per cent stake through Abu Dhabi Petroleum Investment Company, a subsidiary of International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
In the Khalifa Refinery, IPIC will have a majority shareholding of 74 per cent while PARCO will have a 26 per cent interest.
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