Rs 270 million to be spent for upgradation of Hydrocarbon testing labs

The Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) will execute two projects worth Rs.270 million for upgradation of its testing labs in different cities, during the current fiscal year in order to ensure provision of quality petroleum products to consumers.

 “An amount of Rs.220 million has been allocated for strengthening and up-gradation of Karachi Laboratories Complex (KLC)  under the Public Sector Development Program 2018-19, while Rs.50 million to upgrade HDIP's POL testing facilities at Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and ISO Certification of Petroleum Testing Laboratory at Islamabad,” official sources told APP.

The sources said the KLC would be transformed into a state-of-the-art base by equipping it with a complete range of POL products' testing facilities at par with international standard for maintaining supply of quality fuel.

The project, they said, would help increase the capacity of KLC to test samples of imported POL products from ships, inspection and collection of samples from all oil marketing companies' terminals and depots, refineries, lube oil blending plants, lube oil reclamation plants, grease and transformer oil plants.

While, under the second project the HDIP would upgrade its laboratories in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta for testing locally produced and imported petroleum products like gasoline, diesel oils, furnace oil, transformer oil, lubricating oil and greases, the sources added.

Answering a question, they also informed that an amount of Rs 100 million had been reserved for upgradation of Chemical and Petrology-Mineralogy Labs at Geological Survey of Pakistan Southern Zone Karachi.

Whereas, Rs.100 million would be utilized for expansion and up-gradation of Pakistan Petroleum Core house (PETCORE) for its sustainable operations to facilitate oil and gas exploration research in Pakistan. Besides, funds amounting to Rs.10 million have been allocated for geological mapping of 50 Topo sheets, out of 354 Unmapped Topo sheets of Outcrop areas of Baluchistan province, the sources added.

(APP)