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Saudi's $10bn oil refinery to revolutionize Pakistan's energy industry, experts say

Saudi delegation led by Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih discuss prospects of oil refinery and development of Gwadar port with their Pakistani counterparts in a meeting held in Gwadar on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019. (Saudi embassy in Pakistan-Twitter account)
Updated 15 January 2019
Khurshid Ahmed
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Saudi's $10bn oil refinery to revolutionize Pakistan's energy industry, experts say

  • Riyadh plans to construct petrochemical complex which will house the facility
  • Analysts say move will help develop downstream sector in the country
Updated 15 January 2019
Khurshid Ahmed

KARACHI: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to start working on a proposed oil refinery, worth more than $10 billion within the next 18 months, which would reduce the country’s dependency on expensive oil imports and boost its petrochemical sector, Saudi Energy Minister told journalists in Balochistan on Saturday.

Khalid Al Falih, who led the Saudi delegation during a recent visit, said that representatives from both sides discussed a number of projects and opportunities for investment in Pakistan.

“It was continuation of discussions we had in Islamabad few months back with the honorable prime minister [Imran Khan],” Al Falih said during his visit to Gwadar on Satuday. 

“We also discussed projects with Saudi Aramco, the feasibility of a big refinery and petrochemical projects here in Gwadar or elsewhere in Pakistan, but I prefer Gwadar because Gwadar is at a strategic location and is close to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will be connecting not only the urban centers of Pakistan but the region where petrochemicals are short in supply as well," he said.

During the meeting both sides also discussed investment opportunities in the renewable energy, power generation, and mining sectors. 

"We discussed opportunities for product supply, refining products as well as fertilizer exports from the Kingdom as well as investing in the  manufacturing sector in Pakistan,” Al Falih said, adding that "these kind of projects take time". 

"It would be within 18 months that we actually move from studies and feasibilities, and frontal engineering to implementation. However, a lot of things have to happen from both sides including from the Pakistani government," he added.

On his arrival in the deepsea portcity of Gwadar on Saturday, Al Falih also inspected the site of the proposed oil city where Saudi Aramco is planning to build a petrochemical complex which will house the oil refinery at an expected investment of more than $10 billion.

“If we make the refinery work, it would be above $10 billion, especially if we integrate with petrochemical manufacturing for ethylene and propylene value chain...it will have the highest impact,” he said.    

Earlier, Haroon Sharif, Chairman of Pakistan Board of Investment, had said that the "overall direction of the MoUs have been agreed upon and will be signed at the appropriate time”.

“I am expecting around $15 billion investment from Saudi Arabia in the next three years. The inflow of investments for the oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Pakistan is estimated to be between $6 billion to $10 billion,” Sharif said.

Al Falih added that: "We will have all reasonable and enabling terms to make this project profitable and bankable. Once we do that, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabia will push to accelerate”.

Considering the fact that it's a longterm project, experts say that the oil refinery would take eight to 10 years to materialize but, once ready, it will revolutionize Pakistan's energy industry. 

“It would have a great impact. Pakistan needs these projects because the country imports a variety of finished products. Besides, it could resolve thr issue of furnace oil by deep conversion. This would be a good and positive step,” Asim Murtaza, Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum Institute Pakistan, told Arab News.

Pakistan imports around 60 percent of petroleum products from different countries which would be substituted with local production once the refinery is operational. “Pakistan would be able to save around $1.5-$2 billion foreign exchange on imports by only importing crude and making by-products in the country,” Samiullah Tariq, Head of research at Arif Habib Limited, told Arab News.

“This will happen when the refinery is operational," Tariq said, adding that the "proposed petrochemical complex would develop non-existent petrochemical industry in Pakistan with the production of polyethylene and polypropylene. This would boost the plastic and petrochemical industry in the country”.

Pakistan is hoping to attract more than $40 billion in foreign direct investment, in the next five years.

“We estimate that roughly around $40 billion investment will be made by these three countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and China) during the next three to five years,” Sharif had said in a previous interview with Arab News.

Topics: Pakistan Saudi Arabia Oil Pakistan Saudi Ties Oil refinery Khalid Al Falih

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Islamabad, Beijing sign agreement to boost Pakistan’s cotton production

Updated 06 April 2025
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Islamabad, Beijing sign agreement to boost Pakistan’s cotton production

  • As per agreement, Chinese and Pakistani institutes will work on genetically improving cotton to increase its production
  • Cotton is one of Pakistan’s most important crops, having a massive 51% share in country’s total foreign exchange earnings
Updated 06 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Two prominent institutes owned by the governments in China and Pakistan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost Pakistan’s cotton production through technological methods, state broadcaster reported on Sunday. 

Cotton is one of Pakistan’s most important cash crops. At present, Pakistan is the fifth-largest producer of cotton and the third-largest producer of cotton yarn in the world, according to the Ayub Agricultural Institute. 

Cotton has a 0.8% share in Pakistan’s GDP and a massive 51% share in the country’s total foreign exchange earnings. Cotton production in Pakistan has contributed to a vibrant textile industry with over 1,000 ginning factories and around 400 textile mills across the country. 

“The MoU has been signed between the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute of Pakistan (AAIR) and the Institute of Cotton Research (ICR) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,” Radio Pakistan said in a report. 

It said that as per the agreement, AAIR and ICR will work on genetically improving cotton to increase its production and promote Pakistan’s cotton industry globally.

ICR is China’s only state-level organization for professional cotton research. It focuses on basic and applied research, and organizes and presides over major national cotton research projects that address significant science and technology-related issues in cotton production. 

Established in 1962, Punjab government’s AAIR describes itself as one of the country’s most prestigious research institutes that says its mission is to develop new varieties of crops and technologies for food safety. 

The agreement takes place as Pakistan faces a surge in cotton imports this year due to low production. According to the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, factories in Pakistan have received 5.51 million bales of cotton as of January this year, a significant decline of 34% compared to last year.

Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, which produces the most cotton out of all provinces in the country, grew 2.7 million bales, a decline of more than 36% compared to last year. 

Experts blame the low production of cotton due to irregular weather patterns brought about by climate change.

Topics: Pakistan China Ties

Pakistan says pre-Hajj arrangements for government scheme pilgrims in ‘last stages’

Updated 45 min 26 sec ago
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Pakistan says pre-Hajj arrangements for government scheme pilgrims in ‘last stages’

  • Says first Hajj flight to depart from Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore for Saudi Arabia on April 29
  • Around 90,000 expected to perform Hajj under government scheme, says religion affairs minister
Updated 45 min 26 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs minister said on Sunday that pre-Hajj arrangements for pilgrims performing the pilgrimage under the government scheme this year were in the “final stages,” vowing to ensure the best possible facilities for people.

The annual Islamic pilgrimage is expected to take place this year in June. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Hajj Agreement 2025 in January, according to which 179,210 Pakistanis are expected to perform the pilgrimage this year. The quota was divided equally between government and private schemes.

“All pre-Hajj arrangements both here and in Saudi Arabia are in their final stages,” Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs, told reporters at a press conference in Lahore. 

He said around 90,000 pilgrims were expected to perform Hajj under the government’s scheme this year, promising to ensure the best possible facilities for them. 

“And there too every year, the Saudi government makes the best possible arrangements and provides pilgrims with better facilities,” the minister said. 

The minister said Hajj operations will begin from Apr. 29 when the first flight will depart from Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday constituted a three-member inquiry committee to probe why Pakistan had failed to comply with the Kingdom’s Hajj 2025 policy and, as a result not availed a large number of private Hajj quotas for pilgrims. 

“The prime minister has constituted a committee and directed them to present a report on the matter within three working days,” Yousaf said. 

Responding to Pakistani nationals who travel to Saudi Arabia on an Umrah visa and are found begging there, the minister said that the government has taken strict notice of it. 

“If any [tour] company here takes such [beggars] it will be blacklisted and fined,” Yousaf said. “And any person caught there will be deported.” 

Topics: Hajj 2025 Pakistan Saudi Ties

Nationalist party accuses Pakistan police of stopping march for Baloch rights activists’ release

Updated 22 min 46 sec ago
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Nationalist party accuses Pakistan police of stopping march for Baloch rights activists’ release

  • Balochistan National Party-Mengal plans to lead march from Lakpass to Quetta to demand release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch, other activists
  • Balochistan government says protesters won’t be allowed to close highways, BNP-M chief will be arrested if he moves toward Quetta
Updated 22 min 46 sec ago
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: The senior leader of a prominent Baloch nationalist party on Sunday accused Balochistan police of stopping “peaceful” supporters from marching toward the provincial capital of Quetta to demand the release of rights activists, as authorities warned of stern action against anyone violating a ban on public gatherings. 

The Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), led by lawmaker Sardar Akhtar Mengal, on Friday announced its supporters would march from Lakpass toward Quetta after two rounds of talks with officials failed to yield any results.

The BNP-M is demanding the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC) top leader, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and several of her colleagues who were arrested on Mar. 22 after staging a sit-in outside the University of Balochistan. Pakistani authorities charged them with “terrorism,” sedition and murder following a protest in which three demonstrators were killed, according to police documents.

Sanaullah Baloch, a senior BNP-M leader, said police stopped the party’s march from Lakpass, an area between Quetta and Mastung cities, from proceeding further toward Quetta on Sunday morning. 

“We started our march toward Quetta this morning but the police stopped us, citing the imposition of section 144,” Baloch told Arab News, referring to a legal provision that empowers authorities to ban public gatherings of more than four people to maintain law and order.

He said the provincial government has deployed a “large number of troops” at Lakpass who have surrounded the area to stop the march. 

“We are peaceful and we will attempt again to start our march for the release of our detained daughters including Dr. Mahrang Baloch,” he vowed. 

Separately, Mengal took to social media platform X and alleged that a major operation against the party was “imminent.”

“I call upon all districts to immediately shut down all national highways in protest,” he wrote. “Let the world witness this injustice. We remain peaceful, but resolute. Whatever unfolds today— the consequences, the blood, the fallout— will rest solely on the shoulders of the government and the local administration.”

Shahid Rind, spokesperson of the Balochistan provincial government, replied to Mengal’s post on X by saying that he was informed around 6:00 am that he would be detained by authorities under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance. 

“Sardar Akhtar Mengal refused to be arrested,” Rind wrote. “The administration and police clearly told him that if he moves toward Quetta, he will be arrested and that’s why the law enforcement agencies are there.”

He said the BNP-M’s call to block highways will increase the masses’ problems. 

“The administrations of all districts have clear instructions that the national highways will not be closed,” the official said. 

Rind had warned the BNP-M a day earlier that it would not be allowed to enter the Red Zone, a high-security area in Quetta housing key government buildings. 

“The provincial government is ready to allow Mengal and his party to protest at Sariab Road [in Quetta], but he is adamant on entering the Red Zone,” Rind said on Saturday. 

“The Government of Balochistan will not allow anyone to violate Section 144, and action will be taken against protesters,” he added. 

On Friday, Pakistan’s top army generals met to review the national security situation and pledged not to let “foreign-backed proxies” and their “political supporters” destabilize Balochistan.

Authorities have long claimed a nexus between the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants and BYC activists, an allegation the latter denies.

The crackdown on BYC leaders followed a deadly train attack last month in Balochistan, in which BLA separatists took hundreds of passengers hostage. The standoff lasted nearly 36 hours until the army launched a rescue operation, killing 33 militants.

A final count showed 26 passengers had also died in the incident.

Topics: Balochistan National Party Mengal Quetta protest BNP-M Baloch Yakjehti Committee Sardar Akhtar Mengal

Pakistan hands over second relief consignment to Myanmar as quake death toll crosses 3,450

Updated 06 April 2025
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Pakistan hands over second relief consignment to Myanmar as quake death toll crosses 3,450

  • Magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar on Mar. 28, killing 3,455 and injuring over 4,508 
  • Latest shipment of relief items brings total aid dispatched by Pakistan to Myanmar to 70 tons 
Updated 06 April 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan handed over the second consignment of 35 tons of emergency relief aid to Myanmar authorities on Sunday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, as the earthquake death toll in the Southeast Asian nation surged past 3,450. 

The magnitude 7.7 quake struck Myanmar on Mar. 28, causing the deaths of 3,455 people and injuring over 4,508 as per official figures. The United Nations has urged the world to rally behind Myanmar, describing the devastation in the country as “staggering.”

Pakistan had dispatched its second aid consignment to Myanmar through an air cargo flight from Islamabad to Yangon on Saturday.

“Pakistan formally handed over its second consignment of 35 tons of emergency relief aid for earthquake affectees to Myanmar authorities at Yangon International Airport,” the NDMA said. 

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Myanmar Imran Haider, along with the Pakistani embassy’s diplomats and officials, handed over the relief items to the chief minister of Yangon Region, the NDMA said.

“This latest shipment brings the total relief assistance dispatched to Myanmar to 70 tons in response to the recent earthquake,” it added. 

The NDMA said Pakistan’s government remains steadfast in its commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to the earthquake-affected people of Myanmar. 

Earlier, Pakistan’s mission in Myanmar handed over the first consignment of 35 tons of humanitarian assistance to the chief minister of Yangon region for onward distribution among those impacted by the disaster. 

The quake has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than 3 million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the UN.

Myanmar military government’s leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has said the earthquake was the second most powerful in the country’s recorded history after a magnitude 8 quake east of Mandalay in May 1912.

Topics: Pakistan Myanmar

Pakistani novelist bags global award at Women Changing the World Awards 2025

Updated 06 April 2025
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Pakistani novelist bags global award at Women Changing the World Awards 2025

  • Alishba Khan Barech, Pakistan’s youngest self-published novelist, hails from southwestern Balochistan province
  • Her work centers around “rewriting dominant narratives” especially around militancy-hit Balochistan, says state media
Updated 06 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s self-published novelist Alishba Khan Barech bagged the “Young Woman of the Year” award at the Women Changing the World Awards 2025 program this week, state-run media reported, dedicating her victory to the people of the southwestern Balochistan province she hails from. 

Barech is Pakistan’s youngest self-published author and a native of Balochistan province’s Nushki district, which often features in headlines for militant attacks. She was announced as one of 12 finalists for the Young Woman of the Year award in February 2025, selected from a pool of 751 nominations across over 50 countries.

The Women Changing The World Awards is a global program that honors women making a positive impact across industries such as business, sustainability, leadership, health, education, innovation, and technology. The awards ceremony was held at the Park Hyatt London River Thames from Apr. 2-3. 

“As I’ve said before, my mission has always been to rewrite the narratives that define us,” Barech was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). 

“This award is dedicated with all my heart to my parents, my teachers, my beloved province Balochistan, and my country Pakistan.”

The Pakistani writer said winning the award was “more than a personal milestone” for her, adding that it was proof that stories of resilience rise from Nushki and “not just headlines of conflict and militancy we’ve grown used to.”

State-run APP said Barech’s work centers on rewriting dominant narratives, particularly around Balochistan, where separatists are fighting the state for a larger share in the province’s natural resources. 

“She is Pakistan’s youngest novelist and memoirist, having written her debut novel at the age of 11, youngest memoirist at 14 and self-published author at 16,” the APP said. 

It said Barech has worked with UNICEF Pakistan as its youth ambassador for mental health and polio eradication, adding that she currently serves as a youth adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and is also a member of the National Youth Council. 

The Pakistani author serves as a youth ambassador for the cricket franchise Quetta Gladiators and is the first Pashtun woman from Balochistan, South Asia, to secure a merit scholarship to the John Locke Summer University.

Topics: Women Changing the World Awards 2025 Alishba Khan Barech Nushki

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