By Hamid Mahmood ISLAMABAD, May 30 (INP-WealthPK): The Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) has inked an agreement with Wood Group UK Limited, an international consultant, for the refinery expansion and upgrade project (REUP), according to a business filing to the stock market. Signed under the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) protocol, REUP will help enhance the PRL’s crude oil processing capacity from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day, thus considerably reducing high sulphur furnace oil (HSFO) to less than 5%, and maximising high-speed diesel (HSD) and motor spirit (MS/petrol) products’ efficiency to the satisfaction of Euro-V specifications. After signing the award for the engineering, procurement and construction contract, work on FEED will begin in the current fiscal year and be completed by August 2023. REUP is expected to cost $1.2 billion. Due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the global oil sector has experienced a crisis-like scenario, increasing oil prices and raising concerns about oil and gas supply sustainability. However, the PRL was able to have an uninterrupted supply of crude oil during this period, taking advantage of healthy refining margins, resulting in a profit-after-tax of Rs5.53 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, compared to the profit-after-tax of Rs0.54 billion in the same quarter last year, thanks to efficient inventory planning and management. The company earned Rs5.42 billion in profit after tax for the nine months ended March 31, 2022, compared to Rs0.62 billion in the previous period. This was despite an Rs2.07 billion exchange loss for the nine months under review. PRL has maintained its commitment to health, safety, environment, and quality requirements by reviewing, revisiting and strengthening systems as needed. As of March 31, 2022, several banks had available operating credit facilities under mark-up agreements totalling Rs9.45 billion. These agreements were secured via hypothecation of the company's crude oil, finished goods and trade receivables. PRL was established as a public limited company in May 1960. The firm has total current assets of Rs65 billion and total liabilities of Rs57 billion as of March 31, 2022. The refinery can convert around 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day into a range of distilled petroleum products such as motor gasoline, high-speed diesel, furnace oil, jet fuel and kerosene oil, as well as Naphtha. PRL has been the primary manufacturer and supplier of petroleum products to Pakistan's civilian market and defence forces since its inception. It continues to provide professional expertise and a high level of devotion to the country's energy demands. PRL is proud of its competitive advantage in terms of efficiency, lower operating costs, high-quality human resources, dependability and the deployment of new generation technologies. The company's operations are managed by a refinery leadership team, which is responsible for ensuring that the board's policies and strategies are implemented while maintaining a culture of openness, integrity, accountability and commitment to the firm’s principles.