PESHAWAR: A Chinese company has shown interest in setting up an oil refinery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to a statement issued here on Monday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL) and Jereh Group have joined hands for establishment of 15,000 Bpd refinery in the province. For this purpose, a Chinese delegation visited Peshawar to discuss setting up the proposed oil refinery. It was stated that for a follow up note, CEO Jereh Group Mr HE LI visited Peshawar and discussed way forward with Secretary Energy and Power Mohammad Naeem Khan, Secretary Planning and Development Shahab Ali Shah and CEO KPOGCL Raziuddin.

The Chinese firm chief said the Jereh Group was interested in taking this project forward after due consideration of all the possibilities. The pre-feasibility study conducted by KPOGCL was presented to the visiting delegation.

It was stated that a memorandum of understanding was recently signed between the two entities in Beijing for establishment of the much-needed refinery in the province. As per agreement, KPOGCL would act as the facilitator and provide one window operations to Jereh Group ranging from security to groundbreaking ceremony for execution of the project.

Later, speaking on the occasion, KPOGCL CEO Raziuddin stated that the project will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs. “We envision creating a pipeline infrastructure directly from wellhead to refineries,” the CEO of Chinese firm said.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2017