Malik played down concerns about the financial viability and local refineries' ability to process Russian crude. He said, "We've run iterations of various product mixes, and in no scenario will the refining of this crude make a loss." "We are very sure it will be commercially viable," he added.
Malik said it will be mixed with around 60-70% Arabian light crude for refining. He said, "No adjustments (were) needed at the refinery to refine the Russian crude." 'Looking to target one-third of Pakistan's total oil imports from Russia'
Energy imports make up the majority of the Pakistan's external payments. Islamabad imported 154,000 bpd of oil in 2022, around the same as the previous year, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. "We're looking to target one-third of our total oil imports at the Russian crude," Malik said.
The crude was predominantly to Pakistan supplied by the world's top exporter Saudi Arabia and then the United Arab Emirates.