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When it comes to Middle East oil storage, most of the petroleum products and crude oil is imported into the Pakistan region. The growing demands for crude oil, motor gasoline and refined petroleum products has reached the level of 26 metric tons of consumption last year and doesn’t look to be slowing down.

However, investments in crude oil have not focused on the local refinery facilities. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) seeks to change this by constructing new Middle East oil storage facilities and making existing refineries more efficient for enhanced production processes.

Attracting Foreign Investment in Pakistan Oil Facilities

Officials at OGRA are planning 10 new storage facilities that will be constructed during 2018 and 2019. In addition, 10 marketing companies will also be opening their doors to better supply the petroleum products to consumers across the country. Currently, only 15 percent of crude oil consumption comes from eight local and indigenous refineries, while the remaining 85 percent is imported crude oil.

As for the new Middle East storage facilities, it is projected that the facilities will be able to hold a combined capacity of 446,335 metric tons of diesel oil and 304,445 metric tons of petrol.

Major Improvements to Indigenous and Local Refineries

The eight refineries, consisting of two small Pakistan facilities and six major facilities, will have their operations improved to increase the amount of crude oil and refined petroleum products that are produced. To date, 21.8 million barrels came from local sources during the July to February fiscal year. This figure is still lower than the total imported crude oil and petroleum products made for the same fiscal year at 60.4 million barrels.

Some facilities that have made improvements or have begun construction of oil refinery projects include the following.

Pak Arab Refinery Ltd.: Pak Arab Refinery has allocated 1,811 acres of land to a new coastal Khalifa Point refinery project at an estimated construction price of 5 billion USD. The coastal refinery will be located in the province of Balochistan near the capital city of Hub.

Attock Refinery Ltd.: Attock Refinery has installed an isomerization plant to its refinery. The company seeks to enhance motor gasoline production in addition to switching over to producing Euro II that contains 0.05 percent of sulphur high speed diesel (HSD).

Byco Oil Pakistan Ltd.: Byco Oil Pakistan Ltd. has developed an oil refinery in the capital city of Hub, Balochistan. It is estimated that the Pakistan oil facility can create 120,000 barrels a day at a 400 million USD cost. A second facility, Single Buoy Mooring, has also been installed as it has a capacity of 12 million tons per annum and will primarily focus on imported crude oil transportation to move petroleum products between the facilities and the ships.

Pakistan Refinery Ltd.: Pakistan Refinery has taken the same steps as Attock Refinery, as this facility had installed an isomerization plant two years ago in 2016. The facility has doubled its production of motor gasoline.

Conclusion

With the crude oil and petroleum product activities happening to Middle East oil storage and refinery facilities, investors will be looking for opportunities to get involved in this growing industry. These new facilities will enhance the capabilities of creating and moving domestic crude oil to more locations across the country.