The largest oil refinery of the country to be shut down till Nov 18 due to maintenance repair.
Industry sources declared Parco caters 40-50% of country’s petroleum needs; refinery to be on a break for a period of a month and 8 days. It is to remain closed from October 10th to November 18th. Facility processes 120,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis.
Pak Arab Refinery Limited (Parco), the country’s largest oil refinery, is set to shut its operations due to maintenance and inspection turnaround, The News published on Thursday.
“The refinery will remain closed for 38 days, starting from October 10 to November 18,” declared the Parco Managing Director Irteza Qureshi in an interview with the publication a day before.
The official noted that the shutdown process has already been started and that the refinery will be completely off operational basis by Thursday.
As the largest refinery in the country, Parco has the space to process, produce and store over 120,000 barrels of crude oil daily and plays a very vital role in meeting the domestic preferences for petroleum based products.
“Parco caters to 40-50% of the petroleum needs in the country,” said the industry sources.
It is to be seen that Parco is a joint agreement between the government of Pakistan (60%) and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (40%).
In lieu of the long shutdown of the refinery, Qureshi said that Pakistan Refinery and Attock the Refinery also experienced shutdowns in January and February of this year. He explained that Parco’s shutdown was necessary for maintenance purposes.
Meanwhile, Descon Engineering Ltd has been awarded the turnaround contract for Parco’s maintenance.
Oil sector sources noticed that government authorities have instructed other refineries in the country to enhance their production of petroleum products due to Parco’s closure, which will last for more than a month, in order to meet all the demands.
They emphasised that, to address the country’s energy needs, adequate storage arrangements are crucial. If the refinery undergoes significant shutdowns every three to five years there would be chances for inspections and necessary upgrades to provide for the best results.
The Managing Director said that the refinery will remain closed with the approval of the government, and this will not affect the oil supply chain in the country, as necessary arrangements have been made to ensure the continued supply of oil products by various other oil resources.
He added that, according to policy, oil companies are required to maintain 20 days’ worth of storage for petroleum products, in addition to the five to six days of stock held at the refineries..which has already been arranged for by the joint efforts of other oil production companies.