KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will sign agreements with refineries within the next seven to 10 days to advance their long-delayed upgrades, as the government pushes reforms aimed at strengthening the country’s oil infrastructure and attracting investment in energy exploration, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik told The News on Thursday.
“We are going to sign the agreements with the refineries in a week or 10 days,” he said. The government on Thursday also shared the draft of the refineries’ upgradation agreement with these refineries which is to be signed before end of this month. Once these refineries are upgraded, will be in a position to refine all kind of crude.
Meanwhile, in a Pakistan Energy Conference 2026 here organised by the Petroleum Institute of Pakistan, the minister stressed that consistent and predictable policies were essential to attract major investment in Pakistan’s upstream sector, particularly high-risk offshore oil and gas exploration.
Pakistan has revived offshore exploration after a gap of two decades, with friendly countries and local companies including Mari Petroleum, Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited participating in the effort, he said.
“If we expect them to invest over a hundred million dollars for one well, we must provide them consistency of policy and medium-term visibility,” he said. Malik said successful explorers should be allowed to retain profits and reinvest them in infrastructure needed to develop discoveries, calling it essential for sustainable growth in the sector. “That is the only thing that will enable us to sustainably make this sector grow,” he added.
He said petroleum must become an integral part of Pakistan’s medium-term energy policy, while greater coordination among the petroleum, power and water divisions was needed to reduce the country’s vulnerability to external shocks.
Malik said the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had been reactivated and should meet regularly to assess developments across the energy value chain.
“This is one committee which needs to convene every two months to have a discussion on understanding what is happening in the energy value chain,” he said.On the refinery sector, Malik said the government’s efforts had persuaded refineries to provide some relief through lower diesel prices amid volatile international markets. However, he questioned why domestic refineries remained in poor condition and had failed to upgrade to deep-conversion facilities.
“What we need to really get the conversation going is why they are in such a dilapidated state and why have they not been able to upgrade to deep conversion refineries,” he said.He said the new refinery policy was now in place and agreements with refineries were being finalized.
On energy-sector reforms, Malik said the government was working with the World Bank to restructure the gas sector, separate infrastructure from energy businesses and introduce greater competition.
He also said circular debt flows had been kept near zero without increasing consumer tariffs.“Without increasing a single rupee of consumer tariff … we have still been able to maintain the flow of circular debt to near zero,” he said.
Malik said deregulation and private-sector participation would remain central to the government’s energy reforms, adding that the ultimate test would be how future generations judged today’s decisions.
‘REFINERY UPGRADES COULD FURTHER CUT DIESEL PRICES’
Upgrade of Pakistan’s refineries could lead to a further reduction in diesel prices as higher processing capacity and improved efficiency reduce reliance on imported petroleum products, Chairperson of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Malik Khuda Baksh said.
Baksh said Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik briefed him on Wednesday during his visit to Karachi on the refinery upgradation programme.According to the minister, upgraded refineries will be capable of processing both heavier and lighter grades of crude oil, increasing the country’s refining capacity.
The PPDA chairperson said the government’s measures to pass on the benefits of lower diesel prices to consumers were welcome. He said petroleum dealers had also held detailed discussions with the Ministry of Petroleum, as part of their five-point agenda, on a mechanism to reduce petroleum product prices through refinery operations.
Baksh said the ministry has taken up the issue raised by the dealers, resulting in a reduction in diesel prices. Further refinery upgrades, he added, could create greater scope for reducing the prices of diesel and other petroleum products.
He said improving the capacity and efficiency of domestic refineries will increase petroleum product output and reduce dependence on imported crude oil and finished petroleum products. The benefits of these improvements, he added, should be passed on to consumers.
The PPDA chairperson called on the government to expedite the refinery upgradation process so that domestic production could be increased in line with demand and further reductions in petroleum product prices could be considered.
