Al Motahaden Petroleum Refineries (AMPR) of the United Arab Emirates is planning to invest $500 million to build a grassroots refinery in Pakistan’s northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
AMPR signed a memorandum of understanding for the project with the government of Pakistan’s board of investment (BOI) on Dec. 10, BOI said.
As part of the MOU, AMPR has agreed to form a consortium consisting of local and foreign companies to develop the project, the first phase of which would have a crude processing capacity of 15,000-20,000 b/d with a planned future expansion to 50,000-100,000 b/d, BOI said.
In consideration of AMPR’s proposed investment, BOI said it will extend its full assistance and support to the company in obtaining all administrative and regulatory approvals, consents, and permissions related to the project’s development, including land acquisition as well as duty exemptions for delivery and import of equipment and machinery necessary to complete the refinery on time.
A potential timeframe for the project’s commissioning was not disclosed.
The Pakistani government previously signed an MOU with state-owned Pakistan State Oil to build a 40,000-b/d refinery at a cost of $600 million in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that was to be fully commissioned by 2016-17 (OGJ Online, Apr. 12, 2013).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
