Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan region is all set to witness the construction of the Khalifa Coastal Refinery project –a 250,000 bpd oil refinery by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will spend US$5 bilion on the development.

The worldwide downturn had led to delay of the project in the month of January in the middle of a row over management issues with Islamabad. With the resolution of chief issues, it seems like right time for the project to commence. 

The Khalifa Coastal Refinery project is a JV between the Abu Dhabi state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and the Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO), which is equally owned by Pakistan and Abu Dhabi. The 24% of stake will be held by PARCO, while IPIC will hold the balance. 

The 60% of PARCO’s share will be owned by the Pakistani government. As per the speculations, PARCO have accepted initial funding of US$500 million as part of its contribution to start the project, while releasing US$13 million immediately to commence subcontracting work related to the implementation of the KCR project. 

With the conclusion of the refinery, Pakistan’s capability would be doubled from the present 248,506 bpd.