Saudi minister visits Gwadar to inspect construction site of proposed oil refinery

E-Paper | May 03, 2026

A Saudi delegation headed by Minister for Energy, Industry, and Minerals Khalid Abdul Aziz D Al Falih visited Gwadar on Saturday to inspect the site for the proposed oil refinery, Radio Pakistan reported.

Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Ghulam Sarwar Khan received the Saudi delegation at the deep seaport city — an ultimate destination of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Describing the proposed refinery a "state-of-the-art facility", Sarwar Khan said it would be the biggest investment of the Saudi government in Pakistan, for which a memorandum of understanding was expected to be signed later this month, read a statement issued by the ministry.

The petroleum minister said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were enjoying cordial relations.

The CEO of Al Buainain group, an associate company of Aramco, was also part of the delegation.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are likely to sign memoranda of understanding for more than $10 billion Saudi investment in Pakistan this month. The government will also sign similar MoUs with China, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia over the next two months.

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Pakistan

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What’s the deal?

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bhaRAT©

Jan 12, 2019 08:06pm

Visible changes coming to fruition.

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faisal

Jan 12, 2019 08:22pm

time has turned for Pakistan now. Alhamdulillah there are too many oil reserves as per exxon mobil. saudi knows the quantity of oil here so they invested in oil refinery. nobody invests in oil refinery unless they are sure that reserves are enough for decades to come.

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gauhar mir

Jan 12, 2019 08:24pm

Very very very good news. Government is moving right direction.

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Nasir

Jan 12, 2019 08:48pm

Alhamdulilah

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Hasnain Haque

Jan 12, 2019 08:51pm

Where are those who criticise the Govt now?.

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Leena

Jan 12, 2019 09:15pm

That's mean good oil reserves are around

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Khalid iqbal

Jan 12, 2019 09:18pm

Time has turned, that is because you have a leader with vision and love of the country , it’s time the people rose up as one unified nation and cleaned up the mess that has been created for so many years.

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Truthhurts

Jan 12, 2019 09:40pm

The oil refinery will save 6 to 7 billion per year. The deficit gap is decreasing. The exports will increase due to constant supply of gas and energy. The govt must taking action against smuggling and imports.

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A shah

Jan 12, 2019 10:12pm

Saudi having double thoughts

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Joe

Jan 12, 2019 10:24pm

I don't think it is a correct step to construct a oil refinery.. Please don't take me in negative.Reason is clear ,by 2030 there will heardly be any vehicles running on oil.OPEC will be a past tense .Most of the vehicle will be running on electrical power or via solar power.Any refinery will take a minimum of 6 to 7 years to complete.So what would be the life left of this refinery.Say 2 to 4 years maximum.Will Pakistan be able to pay back cost of this.Even if SA leands total cost of refinery at minimum interest, Pakistan will be left with huge debts due to this. Think .SA themselves are investing billion to harness wind and solar energy,where as they are self-sufficient in oil for next 130 years. Think .Think...

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bhaRAT©

Jan 12, 2019 10:45pm

@A shah, What is "double thoughts"??

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Gordon D. Walker

Jan 12, 2019 11:43pm

A positive step, is a positive step... Gordon D. Walker Canada

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Waqas

Jan 12, 2019 11:52pm

Pretty soon PML will claim it is there project.

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Junaid

Jan 13, 2019 12:00am

World is a global village today. World leaders trust other leaders with credibility. Yes IK might not be experienced but he is credible. Both NS and Zardari invested billions in Saudia and UAE, yet still they could not bring investment in pakistan. This is the difference.

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Rehman

Jan 13, 2019 12:09am

@faisal, wrong...Pakistan can have refineries without a drop of oil coming out of the ground, what is required for a refinery is crude oil, this will come from countries like SA or the Emirates which means cheap petrol and diesel and lots of employment for Pakistanis but the main chunk of the profits goes back to the major shareholders, probably the SA. Pakistan’s has some gas reserves but almost no oil reserves to date.

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Morning star

Jan 13, 2019 12:36am

So it was not just a MOU. This visit answers critics.

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AKB

Jan 13, 2019 01:30am

Good news.

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R1A1

Jan 13, 2019 01:37am

Crude oil does not have any future, primarily due to minimising carbon footprint to control global warming. At some point in next couple of years Amrika will come up with grsphene based battery which csn support cars which can run beyond 1000 km per charging using renewable energy. This investment is total waste as India, China and other developed countries are rapidly moving towards the new technology and building metro across major towns and cities. OPEC will be history so will be crude hence Amrika started pumping shale oil not just to consume but expor, in another 6 months the pipeline should be ready in Huston Texas to flood the global market with shale oil.

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Imran

Jan 13, 2019 01:41am

@Joe, it might be true for Europe and American but for developing counties it will take another 50 to 60 years for electric cars. Beside cars petroliam will always be used in other industries for a long time.

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Pak_UK

Jan 13, 2019 01:52am

Though we must focus on Wind and solar energy. Gwadar should be planned as a green energy project. There is massive potential for Solar and Wind energy.

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bhaRAT©

Jan 13, 2019 02:20am

@Rehman, "but the main chunk of the profits goes back to the major shareholders". That is the case with all multi-national companies, not just in this case. If a car company, for example, establishes a plant in another company, it generates a lot of economic activity in that country as well.

Recommend 0

Jan 13, 2019 02:45am

@Joe, are you saying that planes and ships will also run on electricity? How are you going to produce electricity for billions of cars? Oil is bound to be used somewhere in the production of electricity.

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Truthhurts

Jan 13, 2019 02:59am

@Joe, the world will be running on oil even after. Years. The renewable energy is making progress but its not there yet to replace oil.

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Ilyas khan

Jan 13, 2019 03:44am

@Joe, how about the air travel which in increasing. Will you fly the jumbo jets with batteries? It’s 100 years away

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Ruhul

Jan 13, 2019 04:00am

@Joe, its investment not loan. To produce eletricity needs oil. Other sources of electricity still relatively expensive

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Jawad Mahmood

Jan 13, 2019 04:01am

@Truthhurts, because new pakistani leadership is not intended to build relationships for their own rather than they are trying to establish relationships based on national interests ; hope for the best

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Pakistan khappay

Jan 13, 2019 04:06am

@Joe, correct assumptions, but world won't be completely reliable on renewables. We still need oil for bigger industrial consumption. Homeland refinery would be a great help to Pakistan to decrease it's bills.

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Javed

Jan 13, 2019 07:21am

@Joe, Please stop giving us lecture what is good for Pakistan and what will happen to CPEC. It is all your speculations and imaginations based on your biased opinion. The year 2030 according to you, when all cars would be electric cannot be true as the automobile industry whose future and survival depends on such info and prediction don't see that way and that fast transition to electric as there are infrastructure challenges from gas stations to electric charging stations. This wishful scenario of yours does not remotely connect to events such electric cars replacing gasoline based cars to CPEC, Gwadar port and refinery such as this and many like this across the world produce hundreds of by-products that are vital for the growth of the chemical industry. This project gives Pakistan added boost by adding another cash-flushed partner. BTW your wishful thinking, pretending Pakistan's well-wisher can only take you to a dead-end.

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Only

Jan 13, 2019 07:49am

Pakistan will join OPEC and will start giving loan to Worldbank.

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