KARACHI: Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) will remain shut from Tuesday (today) for 35 to 38 days due to maintenance and inspection turnaround, the company said on Monday in a stock filing.

Last week, PRL announced doubling its crude oil refining capacity from 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 100,000 bpd aimed at eliminating the production of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) and maximising the production of petrol and diesel Euro 5 standards.

ISL’s solar power project

The board of directors of International Steels Limited (ISL) has approved the undertaking of a 6.4MW solar power project at its Karachi factory. The project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

In a stock filing on Monday, the company said the estimated cost of the project is Rs1 billion. The initiative will play a key role in cost saving and reduction of the country’s reliance on imported fuel.

Mari Petroleum

Mari Petroleum Company Ltd has posted a profit-after-tax (PAT) of Rs18.4bn during the October-December quarter as compared to Rs11.1bn a year ago due to lower-than-expected operating expenses.

According to Insight Research, the company’s revenue increased by 56pc year-on-year during the quarter due to higher gas off-takes from the Mari field, coupled with the rupee’s devaluation. This takes company sales to Rs94bn in July-December 2023, an increase of 54pc year-on-year.

Mari has made hydrocarbon sales of 19.8 MMBOE (million barrels of oil equivalent) during the half-yearly period, up by 13pc annually.

Regarding exploration efforts, the company said the exploratory well Maiwand X-1 (Block 28) has been drilled and is currently under testing.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024