Pakistan trashes reports of entering into any oil deal with Russia

Categorically denying that Pakistan had struck a deal with Russia for the purchase of crude oil from the latter, Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said on Wednesday that all such reports doing rounds on media were baseless, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In a statement, he said that the government had no plan to purchase a cargo of oil from Russia. “All that the government wants is to supply oil to consumers at cheaper rates,” the minister added. 

At the same time, he said that Pakistan would not purchase another cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG), adding the country already had the gas in surplus. “The prices of the gas have dropped. The government has already rescheduled its five LNG cargos, while rescheduling five more is also on the cards.”   

PRL writes to PSX

On the other hand, Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) has written a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in which it has clarified that there is no truth in reports that it intends to import crude oil from Russia.  

“There has been no contact between us and Russia for the import of oil at concessionary rates,” the PRL has said.

Reporter: Ashraf Khan