Is Pakistan in talks with Russia again to buy another oil cargo?

KARACHI – Pakistan is engaged in negotiations with Russia to import another cargo of oil after successful processing of the first-ever oil cargo imported in June this year. 

An official of the Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) confirmed the development, saying negotiations are under way to purchase another spot cargo. 

In June this year, Pakistan imported 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil under a government to government (G2G) agreement as Islamabad was exploring import of energy at cheaper rates. 

The development comes days after reports suggested that Pakistan has suspended Russian crude oil purchases because the local refineries failed to extract as much petrol and diesel from the Russian crude as they extract from the Gulf crude.

Media reports quoting sources said that financial benefit to the Pakistan Refinery Limited from this import was somewhere between Rs0.50 and Rs1 per litre, which is too little to make any difference.

Import of Russian oil has not made any major difference so far as shipment did not lead to a drop in rates. In contrast, the outgoing government jacked up petrol and diesel rates by up to Rs20 per litre from August 1.