Chinese companies plan on setting up an oil refinery in Pakistan

A group of Chinese state-owned enterprises has volunteered to build a $15 billion oil refinery complex, which might help Pakistan, which has been hit hard by massive withdrawals of foreign investment in recent years.

China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation and the country’s largest pipeline builder.

According to Board of Investment (BOI) Secretary Fareena Mazhar, the China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company LTD (CCP) and China Zhen Hua Import and Export Corporation have expressed interest in investing $15 billion in an oil refinery complex.

The company plans to build the refinery in four years at a location that is not in one of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s nine prioritised Special Economic Zones (SEZs) (CPEC). However, the secretary stated that under the new rules, any company can apply for SEZ designation and be eligible for the same tax and duty advantages as SEZs. The company-specific SEZ, on the other hand, would not be eligible for government-funded utility services.

After the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, China is the third country to express interest in building an oil refinery in Pakistan. The first two proposals have remained on paper to this point.