Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik has said the Russian government had confirmed that it would supply crude oil to Pakistan at a discounted price, reported 214NewsHD TV channel. 

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, Malik said Russian officials had promised Pakistan they would provide discounted crude oil at the same rates as other countries or even lower.

He said Russia had eight different types of crude oil of which two could be used by refineries in Pakistan. “We have had negotiations with Russian officials for the petroleum products including diesel and petrol at a discounted price. Now, they are visiting Pakistan on the second week of January to finalize the deal, “he asserted. 

He hoped that current inflation would witness a considerable drop after Pakistan receives the petroleum crude oil products from Russia. “When the energy cost goes down, the cost of transport and manufacturing will go down, consequently, the price of every item in a shop will go down. This is the prime minister’s vision.”

The minister said they are working on a framework of an agreement with Azerbaijan regarding gas, and they are trying to get one LNG cargo in January.

He said that the government is striving hard for the development and prosperity of the country. “The sole aim of any government should be the welfare of the people,” he added. 

Musadik Malik said the gas reserves of the country decrease by 10% every year. “We are thankful to Qatar for providing gas supply” 

Malik said a “special strategic cell” had been set up at his ministry that would be responsible for ensuring the implementation of any agreements. “A meeting of a [Pak-Russia] inter-governmental commission (IGC) has been proposed to be held in the second week of January,” he said. 

Minister of State for Petroleum observed that Pakistan is also trying to ink a state-to-state agreement with the United Arab Emirates through which Pakistan would get finished petroleum products. 

He said that they are exploring various avenues to expand our areas where they can get energy from,” he said, adding that importing energy from Russia will take a long time for us to develop.