The government of Pakistan has shown interest in importing furnace oil, diesel, jet fuel and petrol from India, it is reliably learnt. Sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that during the second day of talks between the two countries, the possibility of importing petroleum products from India was discussed, however it was agreed that a second round of talks on the issue would be held in India in July.
Pakistan was assured that India could meet its petroleum products' requirements and both the countries would decide the price and route of the potential trade in New Delhi, they added. Sources further said that India showed interest in purchasing around 60,000 tons of Naphta from Pakistan. During the talks, Pakistani delegation was headed by Shabir Ahmed, Joint Secretary Ministry of Petroleum, while the Indian team was headed by P Kalyanasundaram, Director (International Co-operation & Corporate Affairs), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
"This was the first meeting on the subject and we discussed and identified possible routes and the oil products Pakistan is interested in purchasing and in the next meeting we will decide the price," an official who attended the meeting said. In response to a query, the official said the agreed price would be as per international practice.
During the two-day talks, discussions were held on other matters including identification of products, specification, volume, supply sources and transportation mechanism. The Indian delegation comprised of businessmen from leading oil companies including Petroleum Federation of India (PetroFed), IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, Reliance Industries, Essar Oil Ltd Pakistani delegation included representatives from Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Pak Arab Refinery (PARCO) and Attock Refinery Ltd (ARL).
Comments
Comments are closed.