The Petroleum & Natural Resources Ministry has invited proposals for the development of a private sector oil refinery to process local crude from the Badin block in Sind province. The ministry says that 30,000 barrels a day will be available initially, but that local crude resources will be depleted, and that developers should consider the possibility of importing crude at a later stage.

The private developer will be expected to raise all the finance for the project, and provide a schedule for completing financial arrangements. Proposals are due to be submitted by the end of February.

Other refineries are also planned by the local Pak-Arab Refinery, at Mahmood Kot near Multan and the state-owned Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Corporation (Perac) in Baluchistan. Perac also plans to build a hydrocracker in Karachi.