Byco to commission refinery in January 2011

Byco plans to commission its 120,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in January 2011, amid hopes that the Pakistani government will soon revise margins of the cash-starved refinery sector, a senior company official said. The US$700 million project was supposed to be completed by July this year, but operational issues, related to import of plant and machinery, delayed its launch, the official said. The decision of Byco, formerly known as Bosicor, to launch the project comes at a time when the refining industry is running on low profits and rising inter-corporate circular debt discourages maximum throughput. Bycos new refinery, being built 45 kilometers from Karachi in Balochistan, will have the countrys largest crude oil and petroleum product storage facilities with a total capacity of 150,000 tons. (September 22, 2010)