ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s petroleum minister met representatives of US- and UK-based energy companies on Friday to discuss potential investment in critical minerals, oil and gas production and fuel storage infrastructure as the government seeks to attract foreign capital into the country’s energy sector.
The government has made developing Pakistan’s mining sector a key pillar of its economic strategy, hoping to attract overseas investment, reduce reliance on imported energy and capitalize on large deposits of copper, gold and other minerals in the southwestern province of Balochistan. The province is home to the Reko Diq copper-and-gold project, one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits, which Islamabad hopes will help transform Pakistan into a regional mining hub.
Pakistan’s mineral wealth is frequently valued by government officials at around $6 trillion, although the estimate is not independently verified and reflects the country’s broader geological potential rather than proven commercially recoverable reserves.
On Friday, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik held separate meetings with executives from US-based Morgan Hughes Energy and Tejara Capital, and with Vitol Asia, to discuss projects ranging from critical minerals and oil field optimization to fuel storage infrastructure and marine bunkering, according to a government statement.
Malik “welcomed their interest, reaffirming the government’s commitment to increasing indigenous energy production and facilitating responsible international investment through close collaboration with relevant stakeholders,” the statement said.
Gregory Bloom, president of Morgan Hughes Energy, and Ahmad Waleed, chief executive of Tejara Capital, told the minister the two companies were partnering to pursue critical minerals projects in Balochistan while also exploring opportunities to increase production from existing oil and gas fields.
In a separate meeting, Malik met Kieran Gallagher, chief executive of Vitol Asia, to discuss the company’s operations in Pakistan, including the launch of bunkering services at the deep-sea port of Gwadar. Bunkering refers to the supply of fuel to ships and is seen as a way to expand commercial activity at the strategic Arabian Sea port.
The two sides also discussed Vitol’s proposal to convert high sulfur fuel oil, a heavier and more polluting refinery product, into very low sulfur fuel oil, which complies with international maritime fuel standards introduced by the International Maritime Organization.
They also reviewed opportunities under Pakistan’s newly introduced bonded storage policy, which allows companies to store imported petroleum products in customs-controlled facilities before duties are paid, with the minister saying discussions were under way with leading global energy companies, including Vitol, to develop storage infrastructure, strengthen Pakistan’s energy logistics and expand its strategic fuel reserves.
