Pakistan gets first shipment of LPG from Russia, second major energy purchase for cash-strapped nation

Pakistan has received the first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas from Russia, marking the cash-strapped nation’s second major Russian energy purchase. The shipment of 100,000 metric tonnes of LPG was delivered by Russia to Pakistan through Iran’s Sarakhs Special Economic Zone, the Russian embassy in Islamabad said on Tuesday. However, it did not provide details on Iran’s involvement, and it was not immediately clear how much the LPG cost or if it was discounted. The Russian embassy said consultations are on for the next shipment. Tuesday’s shipment comes after Pakistan received its first-ever delivery of Russian crude oil in June under a deal struck between the two countries earlier this year. Pakistan has said it had paid for the Russian crude in Chinese currency but the value of the deal was never disclosed. According to a report in the Dawn newspaper, energy imports make up the majority of Pakistan’s external payments and discounted imports from Russia offer a respite as Islamabad faces an economic crisis with an acute balance of payments problem, risking a default on its external debt. Pakistan needs both gas and petroleum and has for the first time tried to diversify its purchases by looking beyond the Gulf region which traditionally provided the supplies. Quoting sources, The Express Tribune newspaper had reported that 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 said. 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 report said, quoting the people aware of the development.