ISLAMABAD: A Russian company will start supplying crude oil to Pakistani refineries at an affordable price by the end of April following the signing of a commercial agreement in March.

Minister for State of Energy Musaddiq Malik announced this at a press conference on Thursday.

“Both sides which met in the current month agreed to sign a commercial agreement between two state-owned companies of both countries in March and it will take 20 to 25 days to start supply of the Russian crude oil,” he added.

Responding to a question on the mode of payment, the minister said it would be agreed in the negotiation of the commercial agreement and can be other than the US dollar. He further said that the government fulfilled its commitments to bring oil at affordable prices from Russia - the promise made 45 days back.

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“The deal is part of a holistic plan for energy security which was finalized in October 2022 for a sustainable supply of gas and oil at cheaper rate to save foreign exchange by reducing import bill,” he added.

The minister said that Russian and Pakistani companies would sign agreements on spot purchase and long-term LNG contracts under the energy security plan to meet the growing gas demand in the next winter. “The corrective measures in the gas sector is a result of no protest of gas loadshedding in winter as gas is available at cooking times and as an additional LPG cylinders are available at the Ogra’s prices at the counters set up by both gas companies across the country,” he added.

He maintained that the private sector was opposing the government’s decision to import gas through gas companies and full utilisation of LPG terminal which was earlier running on 20 to 25 percent capacity.

He further said an investment of around $10-14,000 million would be expected in the oil refinery.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023