Russia has chosen to provide Pakistan with reduced crude oil, gasoline, and diesel, according to a Monday announcement by Pakistan’s State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik. The choice was made a month after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that the nation is thinking of acquiring Russian oil at a reduced price. Dar noted that neighboring India has been buying oil from Moscow and Islamabad has every right to investigate the idea.
Speaking to the press, the minister said that Moscow has guaranteed the availability of a daily supply of 100,000 barrels of crude oil to Islamabad. A group will travel to Islamabad in January to finalize the parameters of the agreement, including the rates and method of payment, according to the sources.
As winter approaches, Pakistan struggles to satisfy domestic gas supply demands while also trying to control a current account deficit that has been swollen by energy purchases, largely for oil.
The Russian government has encouraged Pakistan to start negotiations on long-term contracts for 2025 and 2026 since they are establishing new plants to produce LNG, the minister added.
He said that negotiations between the nations over two projects, Pakistan Stream (north-south pipes) and another large pipeline (for globally piped gas), had started. Russia was “extremely interested” in supplying Pakistan with pipeline gas, he said.
A group from Russia’s intergovernmental organization would visit Pakistan in January of the following year, Malik added. “We’ll attempt to have what I’ve kept in front of you turned into a real agreement by then so that it can be signed,” the speaker said.
