Byco Oil Set to Start Commercial Operation at Mouza Kund Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--Byco Oil Pakistan Limited (BOPL) (KSE:BYCO) (Karachi, Pakistan) is all set to start commercial operation at its 120,000 Barrels Per Day (BBL/d) Mouza Kund refinery in the Western Baluchistan province of Pakistan.

The refiner recently completed a 72-hour successful trial run and expects to start commercial operations early next month. The refinery once completed will be the largest operating refinery in Pakistan, which is expected to increase the country's domestic refining capacity from the current 250,000 BBL/d to 370,000 BBL/d.

The refinery previously located in Pembrokeshire coast near Milford Haven in Wales, was purchased from Petroplus Holdings AG (SIX: PPHN) (Zug, Switzerland) by BOPL in 2007. Built in late sixties the refinery was owned and operated by the erstwhile Gulf Oil Corporation. Chevron, the subsequent owner, mothballed the refinery in 1997 and sold it to Petro Plus. After being inactive for over a decade, it was purchased by BOPL.

The relocation of the refinery took nearly three years. The new refinery's site sits next to an operational 30,000-BBL/d refinery owned by its sister company Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BPPL) (Karachi, Pakistan). With the addition of this new refinery, Byco's ranking in the market would escalate from the small refiner to the largest refiner in the country.

Upon commercial operation, BOPL expects to produce around 32,000 BBL/d of Fuel Oil, 48,000 BBL/d of Diesel and 22,000 BBL/d of Gasoline. As of now the refinery's product conforms to only Euro II norms, which is acceptable as per the prevailing fuel policy in Pakistan. However, the refiner intends to produce better grade of fuel, such as Euro 5, if the Government of Pakistan incentivizes BOPL for production of cleaner fuels.

In spite of the increasing demand of oil in Pakistan, the country's refining capacity has remained static for the past decades. The new refinery is likely to help reduce Pakistan's dependency on imported petroleum products.

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