The country's petroleum minister said that under a new deal between Islamabad and Moscow, Pakistan has placed its first order for the discounted Russian crude oil with one cargo to dock at Karachi port in May.
On Wednesday night, Minister Musadik Malik told that under the new deal, Pakistan acquires crude oil at discounted rates from Russia and, if the first transaction goes well it is expected to reach 1,00,000 barrels per day.
He said, "Our orders are in, we have placed that already."
In response to confirm the sources information whether that's correct Malik said, “Yes, it is true that we will be getting only crude, not refined oil."
He said with other refineries to be included later after a trial run, Pakistan's Refinery Limited (PRL) will initially refine the Russian crude.
Last year, Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister announced that the country was considering buying discounted Russian oil, pointing out that neighbour India has been buying oil from Moscow and Islamabad also had a right to explore the possibility.
Eventually, Malik had flown to Moscow for talks on matters including gas and oil supplies after which the government announced that it would buy discounted petrol, diesel, and crude oil from Russia.
In January 2023, a Russian delegation arrived in Islamabad for conversations to finalize the deal. During the three-day meeting, the countries decide to address all the technical issues such as transportation, insurance, and payment mechanism to sign an agreement by late March this year.
A joint statement issued by the two sides then stated, “After consensus on the technical specifications achieved, the oil and gas trade transactions will be framed in such a way that it has mutual economic benefits for the countries.”
In January, Nikolay Shulginov, Russian Energy Minister led a delegation to Islamabad to hold talks on the deal, after which he said oil exports to Pakistan could start after March.
