Chinese company commences work on feasibility study of petrochem project in Gwadar, Pakistan

07-Dec-06

Great United Petroleum Holdings Company Limited (GUPC), on behalf of China, has started work on the feasibility study of the strategic project of petrochemical city at Gwadar to be constructed with an initial investment of US$12.5 billion. The petrochemical city is part of the mega oil city project planned by the Pakistan government to be developed at the Gwadar port to make it the biggest crude and refined oil storage base in the region. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed by the Board of Investment (BoI) and the GUPC have on the construction of the petrochemical city. GUPC will conduct the feasibility study and preparation work for the project, followed by a formal agreement between both the countries to materialise the petrochemical city project. The project will be completed in two phases. In the first phase, the petrochemical city will be set up. In the second phase, the biggest refinery along with petrochemical logistics and storage complexes will be set up in the city. To this effect, the government has allocated 12,500 acres of land in Gwadar, which will be available to the interested parties on lease at nominal rates, which will establish the refineries or invest in oil logistics and storage facilities. In the first three years, the refinery will be able to refine 10.5 million tpa of oil. In the first phase its capacity would be increased in 7-9 years to refine up to 21 million tons of crude oil. In the second phase, the capacity of the refineries would be enhanced in 15 years to refine 63 million tons of crude oil.