A spokesperson for the Petroleum Division said that Pakistan is in talks with Saudi Arabia to increase the size of an oil facility on deferred payments from its current $1.2 billion to $3.6 billion.
According to The News, when former Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Riyadh in October of last year, Saudi Arabia made a $4.2 billion support agreement, which included a $1.2 billion oil loan facility for Pakistan.
Syed Zakria Ali Shah, joint secretary of international and joint ventures at the Pakistani petroleum division, revealed that the division was attempting to increase the value of its current facility with Saudi Arabia from $1.2 billion to $3.6 billion.
Pakistan receives monthly oil deliveries worth $100 million under the current Saudi oil facility with deferred payment. Oil prices were low when the deal was struck, but because of their exponential rise, we are currently negotiating with the Saudis to increase their oil facility from $100 million to $300 million every month.
A member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) group, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), Shah claimed Saudi Arabia was also assisting Pakistan in using another existing oil financing facility.
The last framework agreement for this facility was signed between our economic affairs division and ITFC on February 21, 2022, according to Shah. “The government of Pakistan has this facility for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports under the framework agreement with ITFC since 2017–18,” he said.
The facility will cost a total of $4.5 billion over three years, from 2022 to 2024, or roughly $1.5 billion per year on a best-effort basis, the official continued.
