Ministry seeks extension for refinery upgrade

The planned upgrade of existing oil refineries has been dealt a blow owing to the failure to sign implementation agreements as the Petroleum Division is seeking an extension in deadline for another six months. In this respect, the division has prepared a summary for taking approval of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE). Earlier, the deadline for signing plant upgrade agreements with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) was April 22, 2024. Three refineries namely Attock Refinery Limited (ARL), National Refinery Limited (NRL) and Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) had agreed to ink agreements before the deadline, while two other refineries – Pak Arab Refinery (Parco) and Cnergyico PK – needed more time. However, the Petroleum Division neither arranged the signing of agreements with the willing refineries nor extended the date to accommodate the request of others. The formulation of a new refining policy has already taken more than four years, causing a loss of about $4 billion to the country.