Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on April 27 that everything was set for his country to receive a shipment of discounted Russian oil.
"As we speak, the Russian oil is being loaded to arrive here," he told the parliament.
Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told Reuters last week that Pakistan had made its first purchase of cut-price Russian crude.
The discounted purchase offers much needed respite to cash-strapped Pakistan, which has been struggling to avert a balance of payments crisis as it awaits an IMF deal.
Foreign exchange reserves at the country's central bank have fallen to barely cover a month of controlled imports. Energy imports make up the majority of its external payments.
The deal will see Pakistan buy only crude oil, not refined fuels, with Islamabad to target imports to reach 100,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) if the first transaction goes through smoothly, according to Malik, who said the first cargo was likely to dock at Karachi port in May.
Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) will initially refine the Russian crude in a trial run, followed by Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO) and other refineries later.
Russia hasn't yet commented on the deal, which gives Moscow a new outlet, adding to its growing sales to India and China - also often at a discount - as it redirects oil from Western markets following sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Pakistan, a long-standing Western ally, imported 154,000 bbl/d of oil in 2022, broadly flat from the previous year, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. Most was supplied by the world's top exporter Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates.
If Russian crude supplies were to reach 100,000 bbl/d, it would potentially mean a big drop for Middle Eastern suppliers to Pakistan.
The transaction currency, whether Chinese yuan or UAE dirham, and discount rate haven't been disclosed.
Recommended Reading
Talos Energy Expands Leadership Team After $1.29B QuarterNorth Deal
2024-04-25 - Talos Energy President and CEO Tim Duncan said the company has expanded its leadership team as the company integrates its QuarterNorth Energy acquisition.
Energy Transfer Ups Quarterly Cash Distribution
2024-04-25 - Energy Transfer will increase its dividend by about 3%.
ProPetro Ups Share Repurchases by $100MM
2024-04-25 - ProPetro Holding Corp. is increasing its share repurchase program to a total of $200 million of common shares.
Baker Hughes Hikes Quarterly Dividend
2024-04-25 - Baker Hughes Co. increased its quarterly dividend by 11% year-over-year.
Weatherford M&A Efforts Focused on Integration, Not Scale
2024-04-25 - Services company Weatherford International executives are focused on making deals that, regardless of size or scale, can be integrated into the business, President and CEO Girish Saligram said.