Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to establish JWG on oil refinery, petrochemical project

ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Monday agreed to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) on timely and smooth execution of the multi billion dollars project under which an oil refinery and petrochemical complex would be set up at the Gwadar deep seaport city.

The agreement reached during a meeting held between Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Saudi Minister for Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih here, a Petroleum Division press release said.

The meeting discussed the implementation of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries for setting up a mega deep conversion oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Pakistan.

“The both sides agreed to establish a JWG aiming to exchange information that is critical to carry out feasibility studies of the project expeditiously,” it added.

During the meeting, the two sides also discussed other areas of cooperation including supply of petroleum projects on deferred payment basis and provision of Liquefied Natural Gas.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan thanked Saudi Minister Al Falih for showing keen interest to invest in the petroleum sector of Pakistan, which reflected in signing of the MoU.

The Saudi minister said his country would look into more mutually beneficial investment opportunities in energy sector of Pakistan Ghulam Sarwar Khan said billions of dollars investment in different sectors by Saudi Arabia would usher a new era of development and prosperity in Pakistan.

With establishment of the refinery and petrochemical complex, he said Pakistan’s annual oil import bill would cut down by $1.2 billion annually. Besides, the recent agreements with Saudi Arabia in diverse fields would help restore confidence of foreign investors in business-friendly policies of Pakistan, he added.

Ghulam Sarwar said increased business activities in Pakistan would also help create more job opportunities for the younger generation.

Additional Secretary Petroleum Dr Tanveer Qureshi, Joint Secretary Tauqeer Hussain, Managing Director Pakistan State Oil Jehangir Ali Shah, Director General (Oil) Jamil Saleem, DG (Minerals)  Muhammad Iqbal and Director (Refinery) Babar Majeed were also present in the meeting.

(APP)