With all the hype around Russian oil, the foremost question that every Pakistani has is what effect the imported oil will have on the high fuel prices.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal answered the question in a recent interview with Voice of America (Urdu).
When asked whether the price of petrol — which had reached a record high of Rs282 per litre and currently stands at Rs272 per litre — would be slashed by Rs100 once Russian oil reached Pakistan, the minister responded in the negative.
“There might not be a significant difference,” he said. However, the price would “definitely reduce” once Pakistan started importing large quantities of Russian oil, he added.
“At the beginning, the quantity of imported oil is small, but as it increases in six months to a year, it will help reduce petrol prices,” Iqbal said.
Pakistan and Russia had been negotiating an oil deal for months before reaching an agreement in April.
The first shipment of Russian oil is expected to dock at the Karachi port in late May, State Minister for Petroleum Mussadik Malik had said last month. The country would seek to import 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude oil if the first transaction went smoothly, he had added.
Initially, the Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) would refine the crude oil in a trial run, to be followed later by Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO) and other refineries.
