Pakistan has made first order for discount Russian crude oil as part of a new agreement reached among Islamabad and Moscow. According to the nation’s petroleum minister. One cargo is schedule to arrive at Karachi port in May.
In addition to increasing its sales to China and India. Russia now has a new market for its crude thanks to Pakistan’s acquisition. This allows Moscow to divert volume from western market where its crude oil has been prohibited following the conflict in Ukraine.
Discounted crude provides Pakistan. Which is struggling financially due to a balance of payments problem and dangerously low foreign exchange reserves, with much-needed relief. The vast majority of the nation’s foreign payments are make for energy imports.
Pakistan would buy just crude oil, not processed fuels, under the agreement, with imports likely to exceed 100,000 barrels every day provided the initial transaction goes successfully. According to Minister Musadik Malik.
He remarked, “Our order are in, we have placed that already,” confirming reports from sources that the nation will only be purchasing crude, not refined items.
According to statistics from analytics firm Kpler, Pakistan imported 154,000 barrel of oil per day in 2022. Which was essentially stable from the previous year. The majority of the crude oil was supplie by Saudi Arabia.
Singed contract
If Russian crude deliveries exceed 100,000 barrel per day, Middle Eastern exporters to Pakistan could face a significant decline.
Malik declined to specify whether the Chinese yuan & the United Arab Emirates dirham would be used as transaction currencies. Despite Pakistan’s lack of dollars. He also did not react on the import rate.
I won’t say anything about the business side of the arrangement, he said
He stated that Pakistan’s Refinery Limited (PRL) (PSX:PKRF) will refine the Russian crude first, followed by Pak-Arab Refining Limited (PARCO) and other refineries subsequently.
Oil supplies to Pakistan might start after March. According to Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov, who led a delegation to Islamabad in Jan for negotiations on the agreement.
Late last year, Malik travelled to Moscow to discuss the agreement.
India and China have been paying rates beyond the price cap. According to traders and calculations, despite the $60 per barrel price cap that Western nations have placed on anyone purchasing Russian oil as part of sanctions against Moscow.