Russia will provide crude oil, petrol, and diesel to Pakistan at discounted rates, State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik announced on Monday.
Malik, who visited Russia last week along with his delegation for talks on issues including oil and gas supplies, said the visit turned out to be more productive than expected.
“Russia has decided to provide Pakistan crude at discounted rates […] this is the oil that refineries use to produce diesel and petrol […]. Russia will also give petrol and diesel to Pakistan at lower prices,” announced Malik at a press conference.
He said that Pakistan had been invited to start contracts for 2025-26. “Now there will be government-to-government talks,” he added.
Moscow could supply 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Pakistan, sources revealed adding that a Russian delegation is expected to visit Pakistan in January to set terms of a deal, including rates and mode of payment.
Earlier, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had announced that Pakistan was considering purchasing Russian oil at discounted rates, pointing out that India has been buying oil from Russia and Islamabad could also explore the opportunity.
LNG imports
The Pakistani side also discussed Russia’s LNG imports, said Malik adding that since Russia was short on LNG because of international pressure, ” they arranged a meeting of ours with some private companies, that were a part of their delegation […] our talks with them [the companies] have now begun.”
The Russian government is setting up new factories for LNG production and they have invited Pakistan to begin talks on long-term contracts, said the minister.
£2m LPG donation
MusadikMalik also told the media that Iran would donate £2 million of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Pakistan and “It will reach the country within the next 10 days”.
He further shared that the government was actively working on dealing with gas shortages across the country, adding that the government has asked local LPG suppliers to increase distribution, especially in areas where LPG shortages persist.
“Twenty state companies — such as SSGC, PSO, and SNGPL — are importing 20,000 tonnes of LPG every month to increase distribution,” he said.