Byco is planning to invest some $250 million in the next three years to enhance its refining capacity to 220,000 barrels per day (BPD). Over the years, Byco has invested over $700 million, with around 65 per cent foreign investment, for the development of the oil refining sector in Pakistan. It includes the largest oil refining complex in the country as well as the country's first Single Point Mooring Buoy (SPMB) which is the third port of entry for crude oil in the country.
"Despite, millions of dollars investment in the country, Byco is still struggling for a level-playing field", said Derek Alan Lawler CEO Byco Oil Pakistan while talking to Business Recorder. He said that other refineries enjoyed guaranteed returns, infrastructure support, low-priced utilities, including water, power and gas, while Byco itself resourced all these utilities and has also been maintaining 23-km-long access road for the last 10 years," he added.
However, the company is seeking a level-playing field to secure its investment in the country, he said, complaining that his company which was not even permitted to build storage at the Keamari Terminal, completed all its projects with less or no support from the government.
With the setting up of the Byco oil refining complex, the deficit of High Speed Diesel Oil (HSDO) would reduce drastically by 71 per cent, deficit of Motor Speed (MS) would decline by 68pc and that of furnace oil would reduce by about 27pc. "We are committed to developing the energy sector in Pakistan and leading such development by adopting innovative technology," he added.
He said that Byco is currently operating two oil refinery complexes with a cumulative refining capacity of 155,000 BPD. The company has also planned to gradually increase its refining capacity up to 220,000 BPD with an additional investment of $250 million. The expansion is likely to be complete by 2017-2018, he added.
He said that the Byco, with a view to handling the oil import through latest technology, has set up a floating crude oil berth, called the `Single Point Mooring' (SPM) in the open sea, about 26 nautical miles by boat from Karachi Port. "The SPM has brought a revolution in the industry wherever in the world it has been installed, and has received instant acceptance world-wide due to its simplicity, easy installation and round-the-year functionality and minimal maintenance expense", he added. He said that the SPM due to its location in the deep sea with 26 meters of draft could easily accommodate a ship of 100,000 tons dead weight.
The system is combined with a fluid transfer and a local management system that enables connection of sub-sea pipelines to the oil tanker berthing at the SPM, he said, adding that the mooring system, comprising lines and anchor points, has been specifically designed to match a vessel's requirements and local environmental conditions. Byco established the country's first-ever SPM towards the end of 2012 by importing the first shipment of crude oil. Since then, the SPM is in use by Byco to cater the needs of its two refineries at Mouza Kund in Balochistan's district Hub, he added.