Attock Refinery plans $600m upgrade, new 50,000 bpd deep-conversion unit

Attock Refinery Limited, a subsidiary of Attock Oil Company Limited, plans to build a new 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) deep-conversion refinery and upgrade its existing units, the company said in its annual report released on Monday. For Pakistan, the plan points to potential investment in the downstream petroleum sector and efforts to reduce imports of refined fuels, though it remains conditional on crude supply and government support.

The refinery said it would install the new deep-conversion unit 'if sustainable enhanced supplies of local crude from the North become available and necessary support is received from the government side.' It identified upgrading its plants to meet Euro-V fuel specifications as one of its biggest challenges, and said it had prepared a strategic expansion plan to improve product specifications.

Under the planned projects, a Continuous Catalyst Regeneration (CCR) Unit would increase the volume of PMG production and improve the PMG pool octane to meet Euro-V specifications, while eliminating the use of octane-boosting additives and naphtha exports, according to the report. A revamp of the DHDS unit is expected to reduce HSD sulphur content to 10 ppm.

Attock Refinery said it had completed licensor Front End Engineering Design (FEED) studies for the CCR unit and the DHDS revamp at an estimated cost of about $600 million. The contract for Project FEED and Project Management Consultancy (PMC) services was awarded to Studi Technologie Progetti SpA, Italy (STP), and transmittals are being exchanged, translating to around 90% completion of the project FEED package, it said.

The company reported an annual contribution to the national exchequer of Rs156 billion in taxes and duties, and foreign exchange savings of $167.13 million through import substitution and exports. Attock Refinery was incorporated in Pakistan on 8 November 1978 as a private limited company and converted into a public company on 26 June 1979. It is principally engaged in refining crude oil.