Musadik Malik, the state minister for petroleum, declared on Monday that Russia will sell crude oil, gasoline, and diesel to Pakistan at a discount.
Malik expressed his desire to thank the public for a successful tour to Russia, calling it “more successful than our hopes,” during a news conference in Islamabad.
The state minister for petroleum, the secretary for petroleum (Capt. (retd) Muhammad Mahmood), the joint secretary, and representatives of the petroleum division made up the delegation from Pakistan that travelled to Moscow to look into the possibility of obtaining Russian crude oil and other petroleum products at a lower price.
Malik said that Russia lacked liquefied natural gas (LNG). The import of LNG is the subject of ongoing discussions with Russian private companies, and Malik added that state-run LNG producers in Russia have also been contacted.
Read More: Islamabad-Moscow talks—Pakistan asks Russia for 30-40% discount on crude oil
The state minister claims that negotiations with Moscow about the pipeline projects have advanced significantly.
The News last week stated, citing sources, that during negotiations in Moscow, the Pakistani team requested a 30–40% discount on Russian crude oil; however, the Russians refused, stating that all volumes had already been promised.
Moscow requested that Pakistan first honour its commitment to the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP), the main project, which will be built from Karachi to Lahore, Punjab.
The Pakistani team’s response included a change in the PSGP project’s model.
The Russian side claimed that, with the exception of a few shareholding agreement elements, the project’s model under the GtG (government-to-government) arrangement had already been decided.
Malik informed the journalists that the country needed 1% more electricity to meet the demand.
In response to a query, he stated that the government would guarantee that homes would always have access to gas when cooking. According to the minister, “More gas is being delivered to the home sector in December 2022 compared to last year.”
20,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were being imported, he continued, and Iran had promised to send an additional 2 million pounds of LPG over the next 10 days.
According to him, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, had ordered that the nation become self-sufficient in agriculture and that the industry’s chimneys constantly be smoking as a symbol of employment and development.
“Economic expansion and jobs are related. Our GDP growth rate must be increased to 7% “said Malik.