Shell owns 77.42% of Shell Pakistan Ltd. The companies did not disclose the price of the transaction, which was described as a share purchase agreement, but noted that it is subject to regulatory approvals and that they expect it to close during the fourth quarter of 2024.

Wafi and Shell have a previous relationship as the former agreed last year to operate Shell-branded fuel stations in Saudi Arabia.

The Pakistan business that Wafi now controls includes a lubricant blending plant in Karachi, along with a network of 600 fueling stations, 10 fuel terminals and a minority stake in an oil pipeline.

Wafi expressed enthusiasm about entering the Pakistan, which is often mentioned among the next up-and-coming economies in the world after the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China.

“Wafi Energy will be venturing into Pakistan which offers a huge potential growth towards building a global Shell branded energy portfolio,” the company said in a news release.

Shell announced its plans to divest the business in June after posting losses after tax for 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 – losses that it blamed on a series of calamities including record inflation, a sharp devaluation of Pakistan’s rupee and historic flooding.

Company officials later said that the decision was part of its ongoing efforts to optimize operations and a new strategy to enhance its mobility network. Critics have cast the company’s exit from the country as a reflection of government mismanagement of the economy.