Pakistan's new claim: Russia ready to give crude oil at discount, Putin government did not confirm

Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Musaddiq Malik has claimed that the Vladimir Putin government has agreed to supply crude oil to his country at discounted rates. Malik's claim is astonishing. 2 days ago the media of Russia and Pakistan had said that Russia has refused to give oil to Pakistan at an affordable price on the lines of India.

Pakistan's newspaper 'The News' had claimed this by quoting an officer who went on a tour of Moscow with Malik. The price of oil was discussed during this visit itself.

what is the minister's claim?

Petroleum Minister Malik said in a press conference on Monday – Our recent visit to Russia was successful. The Russian government has assured Pakistan of crude oil, petrol, and diesel at discounted rates. We did not expect the tour to be such a success. A delegation of Russia's Petroleum Ministry is coming to Pakistan next month.

A delegation led by Malik went to Moscow last week. Petroleum Secretary Mohammad Mahmood, Joint Secretary, and many senior officers were also included in this.

However, Malik said on Monday – Russia has told us that it does not currently have LNG. For this, we are in talks with private companies there. Apart from this, talks are going on at the government level also on the purchase of liquid petroleum gas.

what the FAC

Last week, Pakistan's leading newspaper 'The News' quoted an officer who had returned from Moscow as claiming that Russia has made it clear that it cannot give a 40% discount on crude oil, petrol, and diesel to Pakistan. Pakistan has demanded that the Putin government should give the same discount to Pakistan as it gives to India. It was claimed in media reports that Russia is not ready for this.

Now Malik's claim has complicated the matter. It has become difficult to decide whether the media reports are correct or the statement of the Pakistan minister. On the other hand, till now the Russian government has not clarified anything in this matter.

Malik has also said that Iran has also agreed to increase the supply of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) to Pakistan. At present, the Government of Pakistan imports 20 thousand tonnes of LPG from Iran.

India dependent on imports

India imports 80% of its oil requirement. India increased Russian oil imports to about 277,000 barrels per day in April from 66,000 barrels per day in March. Last year there were 8 countries from which India bought more oil than Russia, but by April this figure has gone up. In terms of consumption, India is the largest country in the world after America and China.

Russia is the third largest producer of crude oil in the world after the US and Saudi Arabia. About 50 lakh barrels of crude oil are exported daily from here. More than 50% of exports are supplied to Europe.

Russia is the fourth-largest supplier

Russia became India's fourth-largest crude oil supplier in April. India is buying cruder than this from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. The share of African oil in India's total crude imports declined from 14.5% in March to 6% in April, while the US share almost halved to just 3%.

Till March 2022, where India was buying only 3% of oil from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Just one month later, this share increased to 11%. India bought 3 lakh barrels per day of crude oil from Russia in March 2022 and 7 lakh barrels per day in April. In 2021, this average was only 33 thousand barrels per day. Before the Russian attack, India used to buy 1% of its total imports from Russia, which has now increased to 17%.

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