GWADAR OIL REFINERY

Gwadar is said to be the crown jewel of China’s $60 billion investment in its Belt and Road Initiative projects in Pakistan which is located in the southwest part of Balochistan province. Since this project is considered to be a game changer for the entire region, especially Pakistan. A lot of countries are eager to be a part of this project. One of those is Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan’s oil demand is increasing with every passing day which as of this moment cannot be achieved by the existing five oil refineries. These refineries can merely satisfy half of its annual demands. Which then makes the government spends more than $16 billion on importing petroleum products. After the meeting scheduled between PM Imran Khan and Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS), a MOU was signed in which it was decided that Saudi Arabia will spend 10 billion US dollars to build an oil refinery in Gwadar which will be ready at the start of 2020. Besides the fact that this refinery would produce 300,000 barrels of oil per day, which would cut down the cost of oil import. It will also create a lot of job opportunities for young generation in this sector. This is one of the positive initiatives taken by our government and we should hope that there would be more such announcements in the upcoming future.

ATTOCK REFINERY LIMITED (ARL) UPGRADATION

Dating back to 1922, ARL is the pioneer of crude oil refinement in Pakistan. Formally known as Attock Oil Company (AOC) which used to refine crude oil and supply refined oil products was incorporated as a private limited company back in November 1978 as ARL. Backed up with vast experience in this sector, ARL plants have been gradually upgraded to meet the requirements of the modern day technology. It all started back in February 1922 with its first discovery in Khaur followed by the discovery in Dhulian in 1937, which allowed them to upgrade their facility. Equipments like two-stage distillation unit, thermal cracker lubricating oil refinery and wax purification equipment were installed during the late 1930’s.

During 1968 there were subsequent discoveries of oil at Meyal and Toot with reservoir studies during the period 1970-78 which further indicated high potential for crude oil production led to the decision of adding two more distillation plants by 1981. Another expansion and up gradation project was completed during 1999 to 2000. The latest upgradation was done in 2016 which consist of Diesel Hydro Desulphurization (DHDS) unit, Preflash unit, Light Naphtha Isomerization unit and Expansion of existing Captive power plant.

John Menard Jr. A Inspiring Story

John Menard Jr. is an American philanthropist and a billionaire. He is the founder as well as owner of Menard a midwestern chain of home improvement. John was the eldest of eight child's and therefore had pressure early on to be a successful role model for his siblings. His parents were both teachers as well as dairy farmers and instilled in him a sense of frugality. John has often credited his success to his upbringing and the tough environment that he grew up in. John began buying wood in bulk and later sold it to suppliers who were looking to buy wood on weekends as the stores were generally closed on the weekends, this earned John handsome profits and he continued to repeat this practice for the next decade. After continuous success and having excess funds John decided to open up his first hardware store by the name of Menard. Menard stores featured wide aisles, tile floors and easy to reach shelves. 

Menard expanded and opened up more stores in neighboring states by using abandon retail stores to open cheap stores that were centrally located. Today, Menard is the largest home improvement retail store and its core remains the principles of providing goo quality materials at cheap price. 

The Mystery Billionaire

Habib Ullah Khan is a Pakistani billionaire who is also know as a mystery billionaire when he declared a million dollar property in abroad by giving four billion rupees to the Pakistani government as a declaration tax in 2018. Habib Ullah Khan is dedicated to open a Globally recognised six star hotel which will be the first six star hotel of the south asian countries. The hotel will be built on the land of metropole hotel which is an iconic building of Karachi spread over 4 acres of land located in the middle of the financial hub of Karachi.

While giving an interview to a business magazine Habib Ullah Khan said, “There were many interested parties, but few had the kind of liquidity and appetite to consummate the transaction fast,By the grace of God, within two months we closed the deal”.

Habib Ullah Khan’s company Mega Conglomerate has been considering to give the design contract to well known  British-Iraqi architecture firm Zaha Hadid Architects or Louis Vidal of Spain, both of tye firm have already given their proposal for the complex.

These type of projects  will generate huge economic activity and source of employement for hundreds of families. We need similar more projects to give honorable emplopment to local people.

Importance of procurement

Procurement is one of the most critical aspects for any consumer. We do procurement everyday whether knowingly or unknowingly. There are some important facts to know if you want to be effective at procurement especially in construction because we need the right material for the right job. The traditional way to procure is to go to a supplier and order. There are three ways to procure which are cash, credit and economies of scale.  Cash is the most  convenient source for procurement as there is no hassle and also there is room for negotiation. When you are dealing in cash you always bargain to reduce the price as you are giving them the money on the spot. Cash is mostly used for the procurement of daily goods from a one time supplier. There is no attempt to establish long term relations with the supplier as goods procured are not of significant monetary value. 

Second way of procurement is on credit and is mostly used for organizations or contractors that buy in large quantities. Buying material on credit can be relatively difficult as vendors look at your market history and reputation before making a decision. If your reputation is not up to the mark then the vendors will charge you a premium for their products. When you are dealing in credit you mostly negotiate on lead time and not on price. The third way of procuring is using economies of scale to buy in bulk. This is mostly done by large organizations and contractors as they are moving incredibly large volumes. In this type of procurement the consumers look to establish long term relations with the vendors to ensure a competitive edge over its competitors. Consumers often look to negotiate both on price and lead time. Since the consumer is dealing in large volume it is important to have proper contract management. If you have no proper contract then in case of any loss you are solely liable for the damages so it is extremely crucial to maintain proper contract management.