Pakistan receives first batch of LPG from Russia

ISLAMABAD: Russia delivered the first batch of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the amount of 100,000 metric tonnes to Pakistan.

On its official X handle, the Russian Embassy to Pakistan said that Moscow has delivered the first batch of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the amount of 100 thousand metric tons to Pakistan.

It stated that the delivery was made through Iran’s Sarakhs Special Economic Zone. It further said that consultations on the second shipment are underway.

Independent Russian oil refiner Forteinvest clinched a deal that will see Russian gasoline sent to Pakistan by land for the first time, as Russian refiners seek alternative markets for motor fuels days before an EU import ban.

Forteinvest has sold to a trader an initial 1,000-tonne lot of gasoline from its Orsk plant for delivery to Pakistan and has more requests to supply gasoline, diesel and LPG to the country, the sources added.

The refined products will be shipped from the Orsk refinery in Russia’s Orenburg region near the Kazakhstan border to Afghanistan by rail and reloaded into tank trucks for delivery to Pakistan, as Russia and Pakistan don’t have direct rail connections, the sources said.

In June, the first cargo of discounted Russian crude oil arranged under a new deal between Islamabad and Moscow had arrived in Karachi.

The following month, Pakistan temporarily halted its imports of Russian crude oil as the refining process yielded more furnace oil than petrol. It made arrangements for negotiating a long-term agreement with Russia for the import of oil at ‘discounted rates’.

According to reports, the quantity of jet fuel and diesel extracted from Russian oil was relatively low, resulting in less beneficial outcomes for the country.

Pakistani refineries have declined further processing of Russian oil, resulting in 20 percent less petrol obtained compared to Arab crude oil during refining. Pakistan has reportedly imported around 100,000 tons of crude oil from Russia.