PSO to Sell 30% Stake in PRL to Chinese Firm For $1.5 Billion

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has decided to sell a 30 percent stake in Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) to a Chinese company for a $1.5 billion investment. PRL, in which PSO has a 63.6 percent ownership, has signed an agreement with China’s United Energy Group (UEG). The Chinese company will invest $1.5 billion to triple PRL’s production capacity, reported Express Tribune. PRL and UEG signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in China on October 18, 2023. to build a strategic cooperative relationship based on shared interest in Pakistan’s energy industry. They will engage in good faith negotiations to discover potential prospects for cooperation and partnership, including equity participation in PRL as a strategic investor for the refinery’s upgrade. Pertinently, PRL has also reached a commercial crude purchase arrangement with Russia, with plans to deliver the first shipment this month. As part of the agreement at the Pakistan-Russia Inter-governmental Commission meeting in January 2023, PRL was designated as a procuring organization. It will buy crude oil from Russia on commercial terms as agreed upon from time to time, without violating Pakistan’s international commitments or the international framework governing such transactions.