ISLAMABAD: Russia has refused to give Pakistan a 30-40 percent discount on Russian crude oil, saying it cannot give anything now as all volumes have been embargoed, JEE News reported on Thursday.
The Pakistani delegation – which included Minister of State for Petroleum Mossadegh Malik, the Joint Secretary and officials from the Pakistani Embassy in Moscow – requested the concession during talks in Moscow.
The talks ended inconclusively but the Russian side promised to consider Pakistan’s demand and express its views later through diplomatic channels.
However, sources say Russia may offer crude in due course to its major client countries, which are reliable and have strong economies. “Right now all the volumes are associated with big buyers,” he said.
The Russian side asked Pakistan to first honor its commitment to the flagship project of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore, Punjab.
During the talks, Pakistan mentioned its desire to change the model of the PSGP project. The Russian side said that the project model under the GTG arrangement has already been finalized and only some clauses of the shareholding agreement remain to be finalised.
Pakistan’s official delegation left for Moscow on November 29 on a three-day visit to discuss with Russian officials the possibility of subsidized crude oil imports, payment arrangements and shipment costs.
According to industry sources, Russian crude oil can be processed in Pakistan’s refineries and in the past, a private refinery used Russian crude oil to supply finished products.
