A Russian delegation will meet with Pakistan State Oil (PSO) in Karachitoday (Tuesday) to finalize a crude oil import deal at thegovernment-to-government level (GtG).
PSO has been nominated to represent Pakistan in the negotiations andsigning of the Russian crude oil import deal. The Russian side hasnominated the Operational Services Center (PSC), which is a state-ownedcompany, reported a national daily.
The Petroleum Division wants to lock in the deal at close to $50/barrel,$10/barrel less than the cap price imposed by G7 countries on Russian oilin the aftermath of the Ukraine war.
Meanwhile, Russia wants to confirm whether Pakistan truly wants to buy itscrude. Regardless, before signing an agreement, Russians will finalize allprerequisites with PSO officials, including the mode of payment, shippingcost with premium, and insurance cost. During discussions with the PSOtechnical team, the Russian side may discuss discounts.
Sources said shipping crude oil from Russian ports would take 30 days,resulting in a per-barrel transportation cost of $10-15/barrel. For now,the government does not want to reveal the method of payment to Russia forcrude oil imports but the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation ships orRussian tankers are currently being considered to transport crude from theRussian port.
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Last week, Minister of State Musadik Malik stated that the crude deal withRussia was nearing completion and that the first shipping order would beissued next month. The minister also mentioned that the country willreceive one-third of its crude oil imports from Russia at a concessionalrate, the impact of which will be transferred to the people.
He added that the first crude oil vessel from Russia will arrive at the endof next month of April as a test cargo to assess the landed cost of crudeas compared to the cargo Pakistan gets from ADNOC and Saudi Aramco.
