— Says Pakistan to ‘surely consider’ buying Russian oil if no US sanctions imposed
— Says Russia didn’t respond to letter written by Imran Khan’s govt
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Tuesday that Pakistan would be open to buying Russian oil at cheaper rates if it was offered and no sanctions were imposed on any such a deal.
When questioned in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson if Pakistan was open to procuring cheap Russian oil just as India doing, the finance minister said he would “surely consider” it.
A day after the EU imposed a 90% ban on Russian oil, Pakistan's Finance Minister @MiftahIsmail tells me if Russia were to offer Pakistan oil at a cheaper rate without incurring sanctions, he would consider it. pic.twitter.com/zlVY3qKdEs
— Becky Anderson (@BeckyCNN) May 31, 2022
However, Ismail remarked that he did not think it was possible for Pakistani banks to make arrangements to buy Russian oil, also claiming that Moscow had not offered any such discounted deals to Pakistan anyway.
“The previous government talked about buying oil from Russia but I think Russia is under sanctions and they haven’t responded to the letter written by the previous government,” he told the CNN anchor.
Ismail said that with Russia being under sanctions, it was “very difficult” for him to imagine buying oil from there.
Meanwhile, on the subject of imported wheat, Ismail, in the CNN interview, said Pakistan had asked both Ukraine and Russia and would be “happy to buy” from whichever country was ready to sell.
It is pertinent to mention that according to a Reuters report, the current US sanctions against Russia do not prevent other countries from buying Russian oil, although Biden administration officials have considered secondary sanctions that could restrict those purchases in future.
— Rabia Asim (@RabiaAsim8) May 31, 2022
PTI leader Shireen Mazari disagreed with Ismail’s remarks, dubbing him an “ignorant” and saying: “There are no sanctions on purchasing oil from Russia. Ask India. So what’s actually stopping him from buying other than fear of US.”
The man is a liar! He says after 45 days we will buy oil from Russia if there are no sanctions. Ignorant man! There are NO sanctions on purchasing oil from Russia. Ask India! So what's actually stopping him from buying other than fear of US? pic.twitter.com/wqphQF8dOP
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) May 31, 2022
Pakistan’s oil industry is facing challenges in arranging international finances for the import of crude and oil products.
Informed sources told an English newspaper that the Petroleum Division had told the prime minister and finance minister that arrangements for oil imports were getting tough by the day as foreign banks were not providing financing against letters of credit opened by oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries with the local banks.
A senior official told the paper that except two large corporations — Pakistan State Oil and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited — all OMCs and refineries were struggling to arrange the import of petroleum products and crude.
Meanwhile, India has received 34 million barrels of discounted Russian oil since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, more than trebling the value of total imports from Russia, including other products, compared with the same period of 2021.
India’s oil imports from Russia have been rising since February, as Asia’s third-largest economy and the world’s third-biggest oil importer, turned to deeply discounted Russian oil, mostly Urals crude, to cut its imports bill.
The country received more than 24m barrels of Russian crude this month, up from 7.2m barrels in April and about 3m in March, and is set to receive about 28m barrels in June, according to Refinitiv Eikon oil flows.
