Russia Denies LNG Deal, Agrees to Sell Coal Instead

Russia is willing to sell coal to Pakistan but has refused to sell Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) on short notice.

It has been indicated from the Russian side that LNG contracts were more of a long-term thing and that arranging them on short notice for Pakistan was difficult, reported Business Recorder.

Recently, Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia, Shafqat Ali Khan, met with the Russian Minister of Energy to discuss a potential deal for acquiring LNG from Russia on October 11, 2022. During the meeting, the Russian Energy Minister said an LNG deal on such short notice wasn’t possible, however, he inquired whether Pakistan’s earlier request for coal procurement from Russia was still valid.

Almost two weeks after this meeting, the Russian Embassy in Islamabad recommended that the energy sector be discussed at the 8th session of the Russian-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation, which will be held in January 2023 in the federal capital.

Pertinently, Russia’s coal reserves are spread across 22 coal basins and 146 distinct deposits. There are 120.4 billion tons of bituminous coal, of which 50.1 billion tons are suitable for cooking. An inflow of coal for the industry and energy sectors of the country could prove fruitful in helping the cash-strapped nation in dealing with its economic issues of late.

During the most recent IGC meeting, Russians informed the Pakistani side of a Gazprom-related Russian company expressing interest in developing fruitful cooperation with Pakistani oil and gas companies. Both sides at the time supported Habib Rafiq Engineering (Pvt.) LTD and its subsidiaries for wanting to collaborate with Russian enterprises in jointly exploring opportunities for developing, marketing, and implementing industrial digital solutions for the oil and gas sector in the Pakistani market on an open industrial digital platform.

The IGC also noted that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) periodically issues tenders for LNG imports and looks forward to Russian companies participating in future tenders.