KARACHI: Attock Refinery Ltd on Friday announced that it will temporarily shut down its main crude distillation unit for three to four days starting Jan 4.

In a stock filing, ARL has cited elevated product inventories and reduced upliftment by oil marketing companies.

The company said the shutdown would affect its main crude distillation unit (HBL-1) with a capacity of 32,400 barrels per stream day. The disclosure was made under PSX Rule Book Clause 5.6.1 and Sections 96 and 131 of the Securities Act 2015. According to the refinery, low crude stocks coupled with reduced offtake of petrol and high-speed diesel by oil marketing companies during December 2025 resulted in high finished product stocks at the refinery, necessitating the temporary halt. ARL said essential maintenance activities would be carried out during the shutdown period. Other crude units will continue operations, and downstream processing units will function normally.

The company assured the PSX that committed volumes and uninterrupted despatches for the current month would be maintained despite the shutdown.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2026