ISLAMABAD: After the oil and gas exploration firms have reduced production, the government is pondering over a decision to run only two refineries – Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (Parco) – thus shutting down the remaining three refineries for a few months.
The move is being considered in the midst of coronavirus-induced lockdown in most parts of the world following a slump in demand for petroleum products.
Parco uses crude oil imported and produced locally while ARL deals primarily with local crude oil.
The slump in demand has already brought the closure of National Refinery Limited (NRL) and Byco Petroleum. ARL has also shut down its central unit, due to a massive drop in the production of crude oil, gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by the exploration firms.
The government cannot afford to close ARL, since it runs on crude oil produced locally. Should it be shut down, other oil and gas exploration firms’ fields would also have to be shut down.
Parco, a UAE-Pakistan joint venture-will also continue operations. The Government has now prohibited crude oil and petrol imports.
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