Al Ghurair will invest $2b in oil

Further expansion plans in Tripoli put on hold till government is formed.Al Ghurair Investment is set to invest $2 billion (Dh7.3 billion) in the energy sector, especially in setting up and upgrading two oil refineries in Libya and Pakistan, a top official said."We have already invested $200 million in 2009 for the refinery while further investments are on the cards, once the new government takes over after the elections in Libya," Eisa Al Ghurair, Vice-Chairman of Al Ghurair Investment, told Gulf News in an interview.The company earlier formed a joint venture with Libya's National Oil Corporation to form Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Company (Lerco) that owns Ras Lanuf Refinery. "We have had relatively good success in Libya."However, due to the current political situation in Libya, further expansion plans have been put on hold till a new government is formed.He said his company is currently in the process of hiring a contractor to build an oil refinery with 100,000 barrel per day capacity. These include revamping and expanding an existing refinery in Libya with a capacity to refine 200,000 barrel per day and setting up one in Pakistan's Port Qasim area. "The plant has been relocated from Italy to the site near Port Qasim. We will invest about $700 million in the project which will take 27 months to build," he said.The company has sold its coal mining business in Indonesia for $75 million and it is digging for coal in Mozambique at a mine concession.Al Ghurair Investment, recently rebranded as Al Ghurair, is one of the leading and most diversified business groups with operations spanning 20