There had been no progress in the investment of $8 billion by Saudi Arabia. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament was informed that there had been no progress on $8 billion of investment by Saudi Arabia
The Committee was informed by Additional Petroleum Secretary that Saudi Arabia envisioned setting up various oil refineries in the area of Hub and Gwadar.
However, the plan could not proceed to owe to the fact of lack of an oil refinery policy. Although, the draft of the refinery policy was prepared last month and two additional months were required for the approval of the cabinet.
The committee was further informed that 70% of petrol and diesel for Pakistan are imported because of the lack of the actual capacity of an oil refinery. The country has been paying extra for the purchase of petrol as well as diesel.
As PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan also observed that the actual quality of petroleum products available at the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was very poor.
The official also told the committee regarding the expensive electricity and the way it was being generated due to expensive imported fuel.
It has also been observed that there has been no buyer for Afghanistan’s coal except that of Pakistan. Before that, Pakistan has been importing the coal from the region of Africa. However, it will be worth mentioning that the global transportation cost has been increased worldwide
