Bosicor near start-up at refitted Pakistani refinery

May 29, 2001
Bosicor Pakistan Ltd. has purchased and refitted Tesoro Petroleum Inc.'s mothballed refinery at Hub in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Bosicor Pakistan Ltd. plans to begin cold commissioning of the 30,500 b/d nameplate capacity plant in October.


By an OGJ Online Correspondent

KARACHI, May 29 -- Bosicor Pakistan Ltd. has purchased and refitted Tesoro Petroleum Inc.'s mothballed refinery at Hub in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.

Bosicor Pakistan Ltd. plans to begin cold commissioning of the 30,500 b/d nameplate capacity plant in October. Full production would be reached by the end of the year, said BPL Director Amir A. Abbassy.

The company will import, through a French company, 1.3 million-1.5 million tons/year of Qatari crude. The plant will have new storage tanks for its crude and petroleum products.

The $50 million private sector oil refinery will produce six petroleum products, including diesel fuel and fuel oil, and 50,000-70,000 tonnes/year of naphtha.

Pakistan State Oil has agreed to buy products from the refinery. The savings expected from import substitution is around $25-30 million/year.

Abbassy said engineering for the job was awarded to Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd. The company is negotiating with Marubeni Corp. of Japan for operation and maintenance of the plant.