According to the Minister, the country has very low per capita consumption of oil and petroleum products. Given the population of 220 mln, slightly over 20 mln tons of oil is consumed. It allows for the conclusion about the future growth of oil imports.
Traditionally, Pakistan was buying oil in the Middle East due to the geographical proximity and Pakistan refineries being adjusted to this type of feedstock. However, in July 2023, Pakistan received ad tested the first pilot batch of Russian oil. “We were quite satisfied with the quality. We intend to cover about 10% of our domestic demand with Russian oil”, the Minister said.
He emphasised that the issues of the logistics, tankers’ insurance and settlements in currencies alternative to the US dollar are currently under review.
In the long run, Pakistan may increase the share of Russian oil in its energy mix even up to 30%, if there are investors for local refineries upgrade.
“During the next several years, we will be able to grow this share up to 30%. But we need to upgrade our refineries, as they are not in a very good shape now. We are looking for investors for this purpose”, M. Ali added.
According to him, Pakistan is very active in searching for investors willing to finance such upgrade.
