Caretaker Energy Minister Mohammad Ali said that the interim setup was weighing up the possibility of a long-term deal to import up to 1 million tons of Russian oil per year, the TASS news agency reported.
Pakistan has started buying discounted crude oil from Russia after Moscow’s exports were barred from European markets due to its invasion of Ukraine.
The first cargo from Russia landed in June, while the second one is currently being negotiated. Notably, Cnergyico, purchased the country’s first private-sector consignment of Russian crude oil last week.
In addition to dealing with rising inflation and a foreign exchange problem, Pakistan has suffered with spot purchases of Liquified Natural Gas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year drove prices to all-time highs.
To avoid an even worse gas shortage as winter approaches, Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) awarded a tender earlier this month to multinational energy and commodity trading company Vitol for the delivery of an LNG cargo in December, marking the country’s first purchase since last year.