ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The National Assembly was informed that the procurement of Russian crude oil involves certain issues such as the Ukraine war as well as technical, commercial and transportation viability of Russian crude oil etc.
In a written reply to a question by Sheikh Fayyaz Ud Din, the Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum Division) Musadik Masood Malik told that efforts have been made to use Russian crude; however, as per preliminary assessment, it has been indicated that different types of crudes are produced in Russia which are heavier than the currently used by the local refineries.
Therefore, its detailed technical, commercial and transporting viability analysis are required to be made subject to availability of various types of Russian crude oil, he said.
The minister further told that at present, no imports of crude oil and petroleum products are made from Iran due to international sanctions. Therefore, he added, in the presence of sanctions, any such activity relating to import from Iran may trigger serious issues which may not be in Pakistan’s interests.
Musadik Malik said that the government of Pakistan intends to import natural gas from Iran through Iran Pakistan gas pipeline project; however, due to international sanctions on Iran, the project activities are stalled.
The minister of stated said that Pakistan is still committed with the project and as soon as international sanctions on Iran are resolved, the project activities can be re-instated.
