PRL to acquire already existing Refinery

April 12, 2021

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Pakistan Refining Limited (PRL) intends to buy an already existing refinery complex to modernize its operations and increase production to meet the growing demand for oil products as the country emerges from the depression caused by the pandemic.

According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2020, the South Asian country currently has five refineries with a total capacity of 417,000 barrels per day, the largest of which is 150,000 barrels per day.

If the purchase materializes, PRL will double its capacity to 100,000 barrels per day. According to international media reports, this week the company tried to get offers to buy a used refinery for transportation to Pakistan.

PRL is carrying out a potential modernization and expansion project to produce Euro V specifications Petrol and high-speed diesel. It intends to acquire a used refinery complex with one or more conversion units, with a production capacity of between 50,000 and 100,000 barrels per day.

Proposals were invited from interested participants with a closing date of April 23rd. According to the economic survey, Pakistan’s total processing capacity is 19.37 million tons per year, while the country consumes 19.68 million tons of oil products per year.

The government says the country’s refinery capacity is currently underutilized due to financial and technical problems, and it only supplies 11.59 million tonnes per year, while importing the rest of the country’s needs.

The Ministry of Finance said in a report last month that crude oil imports increased 13.8 per cent in the first eight months of 2020-2021. The volume of imports of petroleum products for the same period increased by 27.7%.