CPEC Secretariat endorses $3.5 billion Falcon Oils refinery in Sindh, project moves toward Joint Working Group

The CPEC Secretariat has endorsed a proposed $3.5 billion refinery and storage complex from Falcon Oils at Dhabeji in Sindh's Thatta district and asked the Board of Investment to table it before the Joint Working Group on Industrial Cooperation, according to The News. An office memorandum dated August 24, 2026, issued by the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives treats the scheme as a business-to-business project under CPEC's second phase. The project could be counted among the large privately funded industrial ventures seen in the country lately.

The plan covers a 100,000-barrel-per-day deep-conversion refinery, 4 million tonnes of crude and product storage, plus captive power generation of 50MW. Planned output is Euro-V compliant fuel, intended to strengthen domestic refining and cut reliance on finished fuel imports. Xinjiang Petroleum Engineering Design Co Ltd prepared the feasibility study, and EPC arrangements have been signed with CEEC-GEDI/CGGC.

Falcon Oils says the facility will be privately financed and built without a sovereign guarantee or any claim on the government. CEO Sirhaan Ahmed Khan confirmed the endorsement and described it as a meaningful move toward the formal channel for CPEC industrial projects. The Board of Investment must now take the proposal to the Joint Working Group, a step that could prove decisive for the refinery's path.