CPEC Secretariat endorses $3.5 billion Falcon Oils refinery in Sindh, project moves toward Joint Working Group
100,000 bpd deep-conversion plant to be fully privately financed with no sovereign guarantee
A $3.5 billion Falcon Oils Refinery & Storage Complex proposed for Dhabeji in Sindh's Thatta district has cleared an important institutional hurdle, with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Secretariat endorsing the plan and asking the Board of Investment to bring it before the Joint Working Group on Industrial Cooperation,
The News reported.
The development could rank among the country's largest privately sponsored industrial investments in recent years, marking a significant push toward drawing private-sector capital into Pakistan's petroleum and energy infrastructure.
According to an Office Memorandum issued by the CPEC Secretariat at the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives on August 24, 2026, Falcon Oils (Pvt) Limited has proposed a 100,000-barrels-per-day deep-conversion refinery, alongside a major petroleum storage complex and captive power generation facility.
The memorandum, numbered CPECS/IC(14)/601/2026, supports including the project within the CPEC framework as a business-to-business initiative, in line with CPEC's second phase and both governments' stated emphasis on deeper private-sector collaboration.
The proposed complex is expected to feature 4 million tonnes of crude and petroleum-product storage capacity alongside a 50MW captive power plant, with the refinery planned to produce Euro-V-compliant fuels that could strengthen domestic refining capacity and reduce reliance on imported finished petroleum products.
The project has already secured a Chinese technical and engineering partnership: the feasibility study was prepared by Xinjiang Petroleum Engineering Design Co Ltd, while EPC arrangements have been signed with CEEC-GEDI/CGGC, according to the CPEC Secretariat's memorandum.
Located in Dhabeji, part of Sindh's coastal industrial belt near Karachi's port facilities and crude-import infrastructure, the site is strategically positioned for a refinery built around imported crude and domestic petroleum-product distribution.
For Pakistan, the project could carry broader implications for energy security, as expanded domestic deep-conversion refining capacity is intended to shift a portion of the petroleum import bill away from finished products toward crude oil, while adding substantial storage capacity.
Falcon Oils says the refinery and storage complex will be developed and financed entirely by private sponsors on a fully non-recourse basis, with no sovereign guarantee and no financial or other recourse to the Government of Pakistan.
The project is also expected to generate significant employment during construction and create permanent jobs in Thatta district, potentially adding a major industrial anchor to the Dhabeji area.
Falcon Oils CEO Sirhaan Ahmed Khan confirmed the development, describing the CPEC Secretariat's endorsement as an important step toward advancing the project through the formal CPEC industrial-cooperation mechanism.
With the Board of Investment now tasked with taking the proposal to the Joint Working Group, the project enters a potentially decisive next stage that could shape how the refinery progresses within Pakistan's broader CPEC industrialisation strategy.
If implemented, the 100,000-barrel-per-day facility would add a substantial new refining and storage asset to Pakistan's energy infrastructure, while illustrating the role privately financed, non-recourse projects could play in the next phase of Pakistan-China economic cooperation.
