Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) is the pioneer in crude oil refining in
the country with its operations dating back to early 20th century.
Backed by a rich experience of more than 80 years of successful
operations ARL’s plants have been gradually upgraded / replaced with
state-of-the-art hardware to remain competitive and meet new challenges
and requirements.
Vision Statement:
To be a world class and leading organization continuously providing high
quality and environment friendly energy resources.
MISSION STATEMENT
To be a model diversified energy resources and petrochemical
organization exceeding expectations of all stakeholders. We will achieve
this by utilizing best blend of state-of the-art technologies, high
performing people, excellent business processes and synergetic
organizational culture.
Brief History:
Strategically placed at Rawalpindi, ARL’s configuration / processing
allows it to process lightest to heaviest (23-65 API) Crudes and produce
a complete range of petroleum products from LPG to Asphalt including
specialty products such as Jet Fuels, Cutback Asphalts, Polymer Modified
Bitumen, Mineral Turpentine Oil, Solvent Oil. ARL is the only refinery
in Pakistan that can process indigenous Heavy Crudes. ARL has been a
reliable supplier of quality products to the northern region of the
country.
It all began on February 1922, when two small (2,500 Barrel per day)
“Stills” came on stream at Morgah. The setting up of these facilities
followed the first discovery of oil at Khaur where drilling started on
January 22, 1915 and at very shallow depth of 223 feet 5,000 barrels of
oil flowed. The refinery started expanding rapidly and was fully
integrated by nineteen forties.
ARL was incorporated as a Private Limited Company in November 1978, to
take over the business of the Attock Oil Company (AOC) relating to the
refining of crude oil and the supply of refined petroleum products. It
was subsequently converted into a Public Limited Company in June 1979.
In 1981, the capacity of refinery was increased by the addition of two
Distillation units of 5,000 and 20,000 BPD capacity, respectively. The
old units of the forties for lube/wax production, as well as Edeleanu
(to correct smoke point), were closed down in 1986 due to their vintage.
Presently ARL is listed on the three Stock Exchanges of the country and
is also registered with Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited
(CDC).
Some Recent Achievements:
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The new challenges of improving quality of products and the product
range of the nineties were met by the Upgradation project comprising
of a 10,000 BPD Heavy Crude Unit and a 5,000 BPD Catalytic Reformer
worth $ 54 Million in year 1999. The commissioning of these units gave
the timely impetus to go ahead with its ambitious investment plans
especially for improvement in operations.
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The Power project was conceived to provide reliable power supply to
refinery facilities and colony thus eliminating all disadvantages
associated with power failures. The plant was commissioned ahead of
the scheduled time, by the end of December 2000 and is catering to the
entire electrical needs of the refinery. Power plant consists of three
FFO fired diesel generators of 2.5 MW each.
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To reduce road congestion and traffic hazards in the city and the area
around the refinery, the crude oil from the Southern fields which is
45% of total receipts is now being decanted at a new Decanting
Facility at Khaur (100 km from Rawalpindi) and pumped to the refinery
through already existing pipelines ensuring both an environmental
friendly mode of transportation and maximum utilization of existing
assets (pipelines).
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Further a multi-product White Petroleum Pipeline Project has been
launched which envisages laying a 470 Km pipeline from Machike (Sheikhupura)
to Peshawar region. Spur lines are also planned for future supplies to
other areas like Sialkot, Hazara and Mardan. An MOU with PSO has
already been signed in this regards.
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ARL is in continuous search for value-added products and has now
embarked on the production of Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMB), which is
the first venture of this kind in the country and will ensure
durability and maintainability of Pakistan’s roads. Recently ARL has
also successfully added JP-8 to its range of Jet Fuels production,
which already included JP-1 and JP-4.
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ARL is already supplying Low Sulfur Diesel and Low Sulfur Furnace Oil
to the market in line with its policy of producing more
environmentally friendly fuels and is now also producing unleaded
gasoline. ARL is also targeting low benzene and low aromatics gasoline
production.
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In line with the Government policy for maximization of exports, ARL
has also successfully started export of PMG, HSD and Jet Fuels to
Afghanistan and Petrochemical grade Naphtha to Singapore and other
international markets.
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ARL’s acquisition of ISO-9002 certification for its Quality Control
Laboratory is the first for a Refinery in Pakistan, the first step to
its Total Quality Management (TQM) and further testament to ARL’s
progressive endeavors. Recently ARL has also acquired ISO-9001-2000
certification for entire organization and has become the first
Refinery to do so in Pakistan.
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Keeping in line with its commitment to environment and quality ARL has
also achieved the ISO-14001 certification in September 2002.
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Another environment related initiative has been the setting up of
National Cleaner Production Center (NCPC) with the help of UNIDO. The
purpose of this center is to formulate a full-scale project, which
aims to institutionalize clean fuel operational practices, clean fuel
production, technology & policy support, capacity building and
sustainability. Start-of-the-pipe Cleaner production at manufacturing
units will reduce risk to workers, citizens, and the environment, and
reduce the degradation in livelihoods to improve the long-term future
of Pakistan.
Present Configuration:
Present nameplate capacity of ARL is 37,500 BPSD comprising of four
distillation units (including one for Heavy crudes).
Downstream Units consist of a Naphtha Hydrotreater and a Reforming Unit.
Merox Units for sweetening of Naphtha and Kerosene are also installed.
Environmental pollution control units for liquid effluents other than
API separators include Slant Rib Coalescer Units and Dissolved Air
Flotation Units.
It is ARL’s endeavor to further expand its refining capacity and install
downstream processing units, for value addition and producing cleaner
fuels, to encourage investment in the Oil and Gas Sector benefiting both
the country and the consumers. |