A $10 billion Saudi-backed oil refinery project planned in Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar aims to capitalize on the troubled economy’s potential, and, sources say, lay a foundation for taking in more Russian crude.

Four Pakistani state-owned energy companies late last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Aramco, which will inject the initial 30% equity into the project. Once built, the refinery will be able to process 300,000 barrels per day, according to details released by the government.

That alone would surpass the combined total of 215,000 barrels per day of petroleum products refined in Pakistan in 2020-2021, according to a report by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

The quartet of enterprises — Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL) — also signed a memorandum with China National Offshore Oil Corp. for engineering, procurement and construction of the refinery. Gwadar has long been positioned as the heart of China’s Belt and Road projects in the country.

Pakistan is mired in political and economic crises, which forced it to go to the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion standby bailout arrangement to avoid a default. For this reason, some experts Nikkei Asia interviewed expressed skepticism about the refinery project, questioning the need for the additional capacity in light of the economic woes. Security is also an ever-present concern, highlighted by a deadly suicide bombing in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday.

But some argue that the parties involved are playing a longer game. James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, reasoned that although the economic situation in Pakistan is not ideal, the country, with a population of over 200 million, still has huge economic upside. “This refinery will take a few years to build and by that time economic growth is anticipated in Pakistan,” he said.

The refinery could handle Russian crude, which Pakistan has just begun importing. With Ukraine war sanctions limiting Russia’s export options and forcing discounts, a cash-strapped Islamabad turned to Moscow to bolster its energy supplies. Pakistan recently imported one shipment of Russian crude and is negotiating a second with a long-term oil transportation deal.

The secretive dealings have raised several questions: over Pakistan’s ability to process the Russian oil, as well as shipment costs, and how exactly the government can pay for the fuel in Chinese yuan. Nevertheless, a Pakistani government official privy to the developments told Nikkei on condition of anonymity that importing oil from Russia has been a success.

“Pakistan plans to increase its oil imports from Russia, which would result in a need for additional refinery capacity in Pakistan,” the official said. “The proposed refinery in Gwadar will possibly help refine increasing volumes of Russian crude.”

The Saudis, meanwhile, have been eyeing this project for some time. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Pakistan in February 2019 brought the first announcement that a $10 billion oil refinery would be built in Gwadar. After a four-year interval, Dorsey believes Riyadh is likely serious about the project now.

“Initially the Pakistanis tried to integrate the [Gwadar refinery] project in BRI but the Chinese refused it,” Dorsey said, saying the project can now move ahead outside the Belt and Road framework.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, left, meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in April 2022.   © Saudi Royal Court via Reuters

The Saudi investors have been promised a 20-year tax holiday. Alex Vatanka, founding director of the Iran program at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, believes Aramco’s decision must have convincing commercial logic. “An investment on this scale has commercial merit,” he said. “The Saudis have the money, the economic vision, and Pakistan’s energy market is both huge and hungry.”

Experts also note that the deal comes in the context of Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, and that this could be a factor in the refinery, which is to be built just 90 kilometers from the Iranian border.

Luke Przybyszewski, president of the Abhaseed Foundation Fund, a Polish group of Middle East experts, said Pakistan could reap rewards from both sides of that detente. “Cheap energy from Iran and [foreign direct investment] from Saudi Arabia seems to be a good choice, perhaps currently acceptable to both Riyadh and Tehran,” he said.

But in Gwadar itself, some are doubtful they will see big benefits. Aslam Bhootani, a member of the National Assembly representing Gwadar, complained that the details of the project have not been discussed with him. “We often hear that MOUs are signed, but there is no development on the ground,” Bhootani said. “To date, Gwadar does not have an uninterrupted and guaranteed supply of power,” he added. “Unless this issue is resolved, no megaproject in the coastal town can be successful.”

Ody Team

Ody Team is a qualified social media expert at Coding The Line, London. He had graduated from the University of Cambridge

Bankruptcy has been considered a financial loss for decades in Orlando. The modifying bankruptcy laws made to high filing numbers further strengthened the concept of bankruptcy being bad. It can never be the perfect solution for a financial crisis but can help in solving certain monetary troubles. Bankruptcy is to press the restart button as it can protect your financial future. Want to know how? In the following ways:

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Once you file for bankruptcy in Orlando, your credit takes a blow. However, your credit score can increase quickly over time. Bankruptcy quickly eliminates critical judgments from your credit report and simplifies challenging the remaining negative records. You can see significant credit score improvement in 3 years after filing for bankruptcy. 

2.  Get a Chance to Rebuild Credit

Rebuilding your terrible credit score takes time. Negotiating current debts to get them removed from the credit score and arranging money to pay delinquent accounts get difficult. Once you file for bankruptcy and it gets discharged, you get the chance to rebuild your credit score. You will get access to credit in the form of secured credit cards, store credit cards, and secured loans.

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Wage garnishment happens when creditors accompany you to court. The creditors get a judgment, which allows them to collect the money you owe directly from your paycheck. Such garnishments immediately constitute a huge portion of your salary, which puts people living paycheck-to-paycheck in crisis. Bankruptcy filing quickly pauses debt collection activities, like garnishments. 

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A vehicle is one of the most precious and essential assets of the working class people. Without driving a vehicle, you can’t reach your home or workplace on time if you stay or work in a location with limited transportation. Many Americans prioritize having their vehicles and thus, they are very serious about possessing them. If you haven’t made the car payments yet and are stressed about the lender repossessing your car, filing for bankruptcy gives you the required chances to get payments back.

The Takeaway

So, these are the ways bankruptcy in Orlando saves your financial future. Consult a bankruptcy attorney to learn how bankruptcy can help you. They can review your financial position to suggest which chapter to file or if you should file for bankruptcy. 

Madison Franz

I am an experienced financial analyst & writer who is well known for his ability to foretell market trends as well.

We have all heard the story. In October 1962, the world nearly suffered a nuclear holocaust on account of the so-called “Cuban missile crisis”, when the villainous Soviet Union undertook to install weapons of mass destruction on the island of Cuba, just 150km (93 miles) off the coast of the United States.

Often lost in the narrative – even to this day – is that Soviet missile activity in the Caribbean transpired only after the US had installed nuclear-equipped Jupiter missiles in Turkey, which bordered the Soviet Union.

More than sixty years later, Cuba is still a thorn in the side of the US, in spite of the ongoing, asphyxiating US embargo – which dates from the same year as the missile crisis and constitutes a weapon of mass destruction in its own right.

The Soviet Union is long gone, but the annoyingly resilient island nation has now allegedly decided to play host to yet another existential menace: the People’s Republic of China.

On June 8, the right-wing Wall Street Journal breathlessly reported that Cuba would soon boast a “secret Chinese spy base” focusing on the US, with Beijing signing up to pay Havana billions of dollars for the “eavesdropping facility”. Then on June 20, the same newspaper sounded the alarm regarding a new joint Chinese-Cuban military training arrangement on the island, raising the “prospect of Chinese troops on America’s doorstep”.

And although the veracity of the reports has yet to be established, there is plenty of room for imperial hypocrisy in the meantime.

For starters, the Wall Street Journal takes for granted that China is the aggressor in this equation – even while acknowledging such relevant trivia as that the US engages in electronic surveillance in the South China Sea, sells arms to Taiwan and presides over a military base at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay that has been used “as a signals intelligence station”.

Indeed, the very same paper reported back in February that the US was “markedly increasing the number of troops deployed to Taiwan” – speaking of “doorsteps” and of islands located just off of enemy coasts. And speaking of joint training exercises, the article also specified that the Michigan National Guard was busy instructing a “contingent of the Taiwanese military” on US soil.

Obviously, the US beats China hands down in everything from international eavesdropping and cross-border political meddling to bombing the living daylights out of other countries.

But while the US views itself as unilaterally endowed with the right to do whatever it pleases wherever it pleases, any remote approximation of such behaviour by other countries is cast as an unpardonable and barbaric violation – particularly if it occurs in the United States’ self-declared “backyard”.

And just like earlier this year, when the US media and political hypesters took the Chinese “spy balloon” and ran with it, the alleged Cuba-China conspiracy has provided all manner of fodder for the United States’ resident warmongers.

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