Attock Refinery shuts main unit citing oil smuggling concerns

Attock Refinery Limited has shut down its main crude distillation unit, ARY News reported on Tuesday, citing an official letter. 

As per details, the main unit has been closed due to high stocks of diesel, which have not been lifted because of rampant fuel smuggling in the domestic market.

“We have shut down our main crude distillation unit, which has a capacity of 32,400 barrels per day,” the Attock Refinery said in a letter penned to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Petroleum Division.

The refinery said the oil marketing companies were not buying fuel from them as the demand for fuel was being met through smuggled fuel in the country.

Read more: Another spell of fuel shortage looms over country

Attock Refinery is currently operating at 33 percent capacity after the accumulation of a huge stock of diesel and now the main unit has been shut down, the letter stated.

If the oil marketing companies continue to avoid buying fuel, the refinery might be closed completely, the letter said.

Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) is the pioneer and pacesetter in Pakistan’s petroleum refining sector. Today it has grown into a modern state-of-the-art refinery with a name plate capacity of 53,400 barrels per day (bpd).