Will cheap crude oil be available or not? Pakistani delegation leaves for Moscow for talks with Russia
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A delegation of the Petroleum Ministry left for Moscow to hold talks with Russia on the issue of procuring cheap crude oil to deal with the ongoing energy crisis in Pakistan.
Sources said a Pakistani delegation led by Petroleum Minister Mossadegh Malik left for Moscow from Lahore airport to buy cheaper oil from Russia. The delegation includes Secretary Petroleum Muhammad Mehmood and other concerned officers of the Petroleum Division.
Sources say that the talks will discuss the purchase of cheap oil from Russia, while work on the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline and cooperation related to the petroleum sector will also be discussed soon.
It may be noted that earlier this month, Minister of State for Petroleum Mossadegh Malik had said that Pakistan is ready to buy gas and oil from Russia. In this regard, he has written a letter to Russia regarding energy needs. The Minister of State for Petroleum had written to the Russian Energy Minister in October expressing interest in buying LNG from Russia to meet energy needs during the winter months. The letter was handed over by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan during a meeting with the Russian Energy Minister recently.
In response to the letter, the Russian side said that the LNG contracts were made on a long-term basis and it was difficult to arrange them at short notice, but they would consider Pakistan’s request.
According to sources, in response to the letter written by the Energy Minister, Russia had offered to supply coal. Referring to the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Samarkand on September 15, Russia’s Energy Minister said that if Pakistan still requests for the purchase of coal, we are ready to provide it.
