The government had placed the first order of 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil in April 2023
A second cargo of discounted 55,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil arrived at the Karachi port (Pakistan) Tuesday. The 'Clyde Noble' vessel delivered a batch of Urals oil, according to Geo News.
It was reported that the second cargo, under the deal between Islamabad and Moscow, was slated to arrive on June 20; however, it was delayed by a week. A lack of space in the Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) storage tanks was cited as the reason behind the delay. PRL is the first domestic refinery to obtain crude oil from Russia under the government-led deal.
Pakistan received its first cargo of Russian crude oil on June 12 when a tanker carrying 45,000 tonnes of crude oil docked at the Karachi port.
The government had placed the first order of 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil in April this year after months-long parleys between the two countries over the terms and conditions of the deal.
Under this deal, Russia sent the first oil tanker carrying 100,000 metric tonnes of crude, which arrived at the Omani port early this month. However, the authorities decided that it would be transported to Pakistan through smaller ships as the Pakistani port could not accommodate heavy ships carrying more than 50,000 tonnes of oil cargo.
Pakistan imports 70% of its crude oil, which is refined by PRL, National Refinery Limited, Pak Arab Refinery Limited, and Byco Petroleum. The remaining 30% is locally produced and refined by Attock Refinery Limited, a domestic entity.