ISLAMABAD – Khyber Refinery Limited (KRL) has planned to invest $500million to construct a refinery with the capacity of 20,000 barrels per dayat Khushalgarh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), by June 2020.
“We have already invested around $150 million on this project and now gotlicense from regulator Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) this monthafter which the pace of construction will get momentum in months ahead. Wewill complete this project by June 2020 with the plan to investapproximately $500 million. It will be the first refinery in Pakistan forgetting Euro-4 standards of fuel first time in the country’s history”, KRLChairman Zafar Sheikh told The News in an interview on Saturday.
He said KRL had invested in different projects around the globe, includingthe US and China, and more investment could be brought in to the countryafter making this project successful.
He said that KRL procured 20,000 kanals of land and intended to procure30,000 kanals more to increase the refinery’s capacity from 20,000 barrelsper day to 40,000 per day in the second phase. “We will provide 5,000direct and 50,000 to 100,000 indirect jobs with the help of this project,”he added.
He said ther refinery would also produce jet fuel to meet the demand of thedefence sector
The refinery of modular construction, he said, would utilise the latesttechnology of US firm Honeywell-UOP. The low pressure and temperatureoperation would benefit from low operating costs, making the small refineryfeasible.
The 20,000 barrels per day refinery, being modular in concept, could beincreased in size as and when KRL decides, he maintained. The initialinvestment is around $500 million, but could be doubled for the foreseenexpansion. KP oil production does not currently justify that scale ofinvestment.
The refinery is designed to process local crude oil grades currentlyproduced at the Nashpa, Makori, Chanda and Mela fields in KP, but hasenough flexibility to handle a broad range of oil grades.
He said the refinery would be capable of producing Euro 4 standard dieseland 92-95 RON gasoline. These have less than one-tenth of the dangeroussulphur content typically found in Pakistan fuels, he added.