Gwadar oil facility has potential to attract China, Central Asian markets

GWADAR: A state-of-the-art oil refinery and petrochemical complex, being established at Gwadar has tremendous potential to capture markets in China and Central Asian states where fuel supply takes weeks to reach through other routes, Radio Pakistan reported on Monday.

An official told APP that under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the fuel transportation to China via Pakistan would take just seven days.

He said the mega oil facility is being constructed with around 11 billion dollars Saudi investment.

Pakistan’s average annual oil consumption is around 26 million tons and fifty percent is met through local production of eight existing oil refineries.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to establish a Joint Working Group to ensure timely and smooth execution of the multi billion dollars project.

The official said the government is making all-out efforts to upgrade existing oil refineries and establish new deep conversion facilities to achieve self-sufficiency in this sector.

Gwadar port

Gwadar – located on the Arabian Sea near Iran and the mouth of the Persian Gulf – to become a regional commercial, industrial and shipping hub, as part of the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The corridor is designed to give China a shorter, more secure trading route, via Pakistan, to the Middle East and beyond, while also boosting Pakistan’s economy.

Right now, the Gwadar peninsula – a hammerhead-shaped projection of land into the Arabian Sea – is home to about 100,000 people, following completion of the first phase of the port development.

But as development continues, the area’s population is expected to grow to 500,000 by 2020, according to the port authority’s website.