Pakistan receives second shipment of discounted Russian crude oil

On Tuesday, the second shipment of discounted Russian crude oil, comprising a total of 55,000 tonnes, reached the Karachi port.

The vessel carrying Urals oil, named ‘Clyde Noble’, had been en route to the port of Karachi in the Arabian Sea, according to earlier reports from reliable sources. Once the ship’s berthing plan is finalized, it will be docked at the oil pier.

An insider from the oil industry had previously informed The News that the vessel was expected to reach Karachi Port by Tuesday. Originally scheduled to arrive on June 20, the second cargo faced a one-week delay due to limited storage space in the tanks of Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL).

The PRL, being the first domestic refinery to receive crude oil from Russia under the government-led deal, encountered logistical challenges.

Pakistan had received its initial shipment 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 an order of 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil in April of this year after months of negotiations with Moscow to finalize the terms and conditions of the agreement.

As per the terms of the deal, Russia dispatched the first oil tanker carrying 100,000 metric tonnes of crude, which arrived at the Omani port earlier this month.

However, due to the Pakistani port’s limitations in handling heavy ships carrying over 50,000 tonnes of oil cargo, it was decided to transport the crude to Pakistan using smaller vessels.

It is noteworthy that the vessel, loaded with Ural crude on April 21 at a Russian port, faced a 10-day delay due to technical issues. Subsequently, it reached Egypt’s Suez Canal on May 17, where it endured a 12-day wait in a lengthy queue before crossing the canal.

Currently, Pakistan imports 70 per cent of its crude oil, which is refined by PRL, National Refinery Limited, Pak Arab Refinery Limited, and Byco Petroleum. The remaining 30 per cent is domestically produced and refined by Attock Refinery Limited.

To meet the demand for petroleum products, PRL is presently in the process of refining the Russian crude oil, blending it with Arabian crude that arrived a few days ago following a PRL order.