The Russia-Ukraine war has created an energy problem globally. Most countries have imposed restrictions on trade with Russia. But few countries like China and India are taking advantage of it by importing petroleum products at discounted prices from Russia. Even China & Russia are trading in their currencies like RMB (Ren Min Bi Chinese currency) and Ruble (Russian currency) instead of the American dollars.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan had intentions to import crude oil and gas from Russia at a low cost to take advantage.
A refinery in Pakistan has imported two cargoes of Russian crude oil from a third party. It has not received shipments direct from Russia & not made immediate payment to a Russian company. However, this is not possible on a large scale because Habib Bank and the National Bank of Pakistan are lined up with western countries and could not take the risk. Other few
banks, i.e., Habib Metro, Faisal & Meezan banks, are aligned with Middle Eastern countries & have Swiss shareholding. They required a more substantial agreement between Pakistan & Russia.
Government of pakistan has focused on this opportunity to import low-cost Russian crude. In a Foreign Ministry Meeting, attention was driven towards the imports of Russian crude but remained inconclusive. All the Pakistani refineries have 30-35 percent technical capacity to process the Russian oil of all grades, and no one can handle 100%.
Ministry of Energy has selected four refineries, one from Multan and the three from Coastal, to present their analysis regarding crude imports and their input. They will provide a comparative analysis of the cost and benefits of imports from Russia and the Middle East. The research will base on payment methodology, transport, freight, and technical processing about productivity, quantity grades. Now import decision depends on the report.
If Pakistan can avail of this opportunity, then the problem of petroleum, energy and foreign exchange reserves will settle to some extent.
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