MoU to build the oil refinery being signed between the K-P government and PSO. PHOTO: INP
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the provincial government and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) on Thursday to establish an oil refinery in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
A ceremony was held at the Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar, where Provincial Secretary for Energy and Power, Zafar Iqbal, and PSO Managing Director Naeem Yahya Mir signed the MoU in the presence of K-P Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Tariq Pervez Khan.
K-P Minister for Energy and Power Muhammad Younas Khan Marwat and other government officials were also present at the ceremony.
CM Tariq Pervez termed the MoU historic and said, “The project will play the role of a back bone for the K-P economy once completed. It will boost economic, commercial and industrial activities and create employment opportunities.”
Appreciating the efforts of the energy and power department, Tariq stressed the need to give the agreement practical shape in the minimum possible time frame so that people could start enjoying its benefits.
Earlier, the CM was briefed about the project, under which the provincial government will provide 400 acres of land in Kohat district, where PSO will establish an oil refinery equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
The project will be completed by 2017 at an estimated cost of $700 million. About 40,000 barrels of oil will be refined daily.
Currently, K-P has a production capacity of 28,000 barrels of crude oil, which is transported to an oil refinery in Rawalpindi in the absence of a refinery in the province. This results in the high production cost of petroleum products.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2013.
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