ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is most likely to pay for Russian oil in Chinese yuan with a test cargo carrying 750,000 barrels of crude expected to dock in June.
A senior energy ministry official told JEE News that “the cargo could arrive by the end of May.”
Sources have learned that Pakistan will likely pay for the crude oil in Chinese currency and “Bank of China may play a role in the transaction”.
However, the official refused to divulge the details of the payment method in clear terms, saying it was not in the country’s interest and the seller also did not make it public fearing backlash from other countries on the purchase. want to do Russian oil direct from Moscow.
“Russia will supply URL crude in the test cargo and probably Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) will be entrusted with the task of refining the Russian crude oil,” he added.
The trade analysis of Russian crude oil has been done in favor of Pakistan’s economy but it will be further scrutinized after the Russian oil is refined.
The shipping cost of Russian oil is also estimated at around $15 per barrel, but it will be finalized after it reaches the port of Pakistan.
Other sources said that Pakistan has fixed the price of G7 countries at around $50-52 per barrel compared to $60 per barrel.
Pakistani refineries are importing 80 percent of their crude under long-term contracts from ADNOC and Saudi Aramco, and the remaining 20 percent has a cushion to buy Russian oil under GtG on somewhat longer-term contracts.
But the government would also prefer to have some cushion to buy crude oil from the international market as a fall in crude oil prices could also hurt the cost under long-term contracts.
“Pakistan had earlier expressed its desire to get Russian crude oil at a discount of around $50 per barrel, which is $10 less than the price imposed by the G7 countries on Russian oil in the wake of the war against Ukraine. per barrel.”
However, a top coalition government official said the decision to import Russian crude oil at a 30 per cent discount under the GtG deal may not provide the relief it needs.
