Islamabad: The Shehbaz Sharif government has succeeded in persuading Saudi Arabia to revive a major project shelved during the PTI government and establish a state of the art deep conversion refinery along with a petrochemical complex in Pakistan.
A high-powered delegation of the kingdom, headed by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, is coming to Pakistan in the last week of November during which a formal announcement is expected in this regard, The News reported.
The Pakistani side, according to the report, made huge efforts to persuade the kingdom to honour the MoUs and invest in the South Asian nation.
Islamabad also put its weight behind Riyadh, which has locked horns with Washington over the cut in oil supply in the international market, The News reported.
In February 2019, during the visit of Mohammad Bin Salman to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia signed MoUs for an investment of $21 billion in various sectors of the economy, including for the project of a deep conversion refinery and petrochemical complex with an investment of $12 billion.
The Saudi oil giant Aramco also conducted a study in this regard which found that setting up a refinery in Gwadar was not feasible.
However, it can be established at Hub, Balochistan, or near Karachi, the official said, The News reported.
Later, when the ties of Imran Khan's government got strained with Saudi Arabia, the top decision-makers of the kingdom virtually put MoUs of $21 billion on the backburner signed in February 2019, the official said.
Now in the latest scenario, the official said, the Ministry of Petroleum is working on an upgrade of the draft for the refining policy to allure investment for setting up new refineries.
The government is making up its mind to offer the investors profitability at 14-15 per cent against the offer of 9 per cent, earlier offered in the draft for refining policy prepared by the PTI government, apart from increasing the tax holiday's scope.
The government also wants investment from China for a refinery and to this effect, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during his upcoming visit to China, will offer Beijing to set up a refinery in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif is set to embark on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting from Monday to attend the "Davos in the Desert" summit -- an initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to expand the Kingdom's role beyond oil in the global economy.
Shehbaz is visiting Saudi Arabia ahead of Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Pakistan. The Saudi Crown Prince is expected to travel to Islamabad next month on a crucial visit Pakistan is hoping will lead to yet another financial bailout package from the oil-rich Arab nation.
Though officials are tight-lipped and not sharing details of the visit, sources confirmed to The Express Tribune that the two countries were in touch to prepare for the visit.
Official sources confirmed that the Prime Minister is visiting Saudi Arabia on the invitation of Crown Prince.
He will attend the two-day conference and is scheduled to meet the Saudi leadership, Express Tribune reported.
Hundreds of delegates from around the world including government officials, business leaders and even CEOs of American companies are attending the two-day Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. The conference will kick off on Tuesday, The Express Tribune reported.
The Davos in the desert is taking place at a time when Saudi Arabia and the US clashed over Riyadh's move to cut oil supplies despite request by President Joe Biden to the contrary.
US officials have not not invited to the investment summit, according to the organisers.
However, 400 CEOs from different American companies will be in attendance. A strong Chinese delegation will be in Riyadh highlighting Saudi Arabia's push to diversify its options and look beyond the West.
Pakistan considers the conference as an opportunity to draw world's attention towards the climate-induced floods.
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