Moscow and Islamabad have reached “conceptual” agreements on supplying Russian oil and petroleum products to Pakistan, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Sergey Mochalnikov announced after the Jan. 18-20 meeting of the Pakistan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission in Islamabad.
From reports in RT and Press Trust of India, it was agreed that Russia would start providing oil, gasoline, and diesel to Pakistan by March, at a discount price, paid in the currencies of “friendly countries.” Plus, remaining questions on constructing the “Pakistan Stream” gas pipeline, to run north-south 1,100 km, connecting Karachi to Lahore, were thrashed out. The project has been discussed since 2015, but repeatedly postponed. Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov said that Moscow is “ready to sign required corporate documents” to kickstart the construction of the pipeline. He added that “the approach to the implementation of such projects has to be comprehensive. It means not only a pipeline but also a source of gas for it. And we are currently discussing the project both from the point of view of transporting regasified gas and pipeline gas.”
Pakistani Minister of Petroleum Musaddiq Malik called the talks “more productive than expected.”
