Pakistan's Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan tapped Russian trade authorities in Moscow for the import of LNG (liquefied natural gas) and fuels at discounted rates and struck an agreement to push this envelope further early next year, top sources in the energy ministry said. According to Interfax, a Russian news agency, Pakistan, and Russia on October 13 (Thursday) decided to explore avenues for cooperation in fuel and energy in January 2023. “And this development substantiates that Pakistan’s ambassador has engaged Russian authorities in line with the latest directives of the coalition government,” the top sources in Moscow and Energy Ministry told The News. They said the development followed the government’s directives to the ambassador in Moscow to engage Russian officials for a trade deal to buy gas, oil, and finished petroleum products. But experts say for Pakistan it is not easy to import petroleum products and LNG in the presence of US and EU sanctions as Pakistan is very much in the IMF programme and under the radar of FATF, and in these two forums, the USA has a great say. Nevertheless, officials say Pakistan can purchase fuel from Russia below the cap price in the international market as has been suggested by US officials. But, so far, no cap price for Russian oil has been determined in the international market.
Pakistan has so far failed to get petroleum products and LNG from UAE and Azerbaijan. However, Qatar has agreed to provide one more LNG cargo in January 2023 after rescheduling one shipment from next summer season to winter —January 2023. According to the press release, the meeting between Ambassador Khan and Russian Minister Nikolai Shulginov was held on Thursday on the sideline at the Russian Energy Week Forum in Moscow. The handout also says that a meeting of the inter-governmental commission of Russia and Pakistan is scheduled for early 2023. The previous meeting was held in November 2021 in Yekaterinburg. On the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week forum, Minister Shulginov discussed the prospects for cooperation in the fuel and energy complex with Ambassador Khan. They talked about the implementation of the Pakistan Stream Pipeline Project, prospects for cooperation in the oil and gas sector, as well as preparations for holding an intergovernmental commission in early 2023. "We maintain close cooperation with our Pakistani partners on the entire range of issues of the Russian-Pakistani intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation, including energy," Shulginov said through the press service of the Ministry of Energy.