Skip to main content

Saudi team arrives in Pakistan, may sign four MoUs

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to sign four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for oil and mineral sector investment and trade cooperation that would ultimately extend the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from Gwadar to Africa through Oman and Riyadh.

The MoUs are planned to be signed on the conclusion of a four-day visit of Saudi delegation that arrived here on Sunday, sources said. The move will enable Islamabad to secure supply of petroleum products and crude oil on deferred payments and Riyadh will be looking into setting up of an oil refinery at Gwadar, invest in a copper and gold project in Balochistan’s Reko Diq and LNG-based power projects in Punjab.

Led by the Minister for Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, the visiting delegation would also have members from the Saudi national oil firm, Aramco, the sources said. Besides authorities of various ministries, state-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO) would be the only Pakistani firm to be part of a direct dialogue, the sources added.

Islamabad to get oil supply on deferred payments and Riyadh may set up an oil refinery, invest in mineral and energy projects

They said Riyadh had been looking for diversifying its trade routes, including for oil supplies because of its tension with Qatar and Iran.

It is considering two options — about 40km bridge or tunnel — to link Gwadar with Muscat and Oman at the mouth of Strait of Hormuz on one side and connect its industrial city of Jazan with Eritrea’s Massawa region through a 440km tunnel across the Red Sea. The land route between Muscat and Jazan port is around 2200km.

The sources said the meetings would be held on Monday between the officials of Saudi and Pakistani companies under the aegis of the ministries of energy & mineral resources and industries & production for a 110,000 barrel per day (BPD) refinery at Gwadar and investment in copper mines of Reko Diq and phosphate supply.

The sources said the two sides would also discuss the supply of refined products and crude oil imports on deferred payments followed by another session for proposed privatisation of two LNG-based power plants set up by federal funding in Punjab the same day (Monday).

They said the teams would then travel to Gwadar port and Reko Diq on Tuesday for field visits. The two sides would hold final discussions on Wednesday on proposed MoUs on the Gwadar refinery, Reko Diq, two power plants and oil supplies — both refined and crude.

The sources said Pakistan had requested Saudi Arabia for a long-term arrangement for oil supplies on delayed payments – one of the most crucial avenues for balance of payments support.

Pakistan is importing about 110,000 barrels per day (BPD) crude oil from Saudi Arabia, out of its total import of about 350,000 BPD.

Riyadh provided deferred payment facility for oil supplies initially for two years soon after Pakistan went nuclear in 1998 and then kept extending the facility for another three years.

The Gwadar refinery proposed to be set up by Saudi Arabia could be used for supply of refined products to Pakistani market or for export.

All the projects would take time to materialise, said a finance ministry official but hinted that investments flowing into Pakistan could support declining foreign exchange reserves.

The discussions are taking place at a time when a staff mission of the IMF is simultaneously holding Article IV consultations with the authorities that could become the basis for a future IMF programme if the government agreed. The support from Saudi Arabia would be one of the key factors to determine if Pakistan should go for the IMF programme.

Pakistan’s oil import bill amounted to $14.5 billion during the financial year ending on June 30, 2018, and could go up to $18bn this year with higher prices and increased consumption.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2018



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2Ndi866
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rouhani calls Imran, discusses resumption of trade

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday discussed full resumption of bilateral trade, which was halted last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The two sides stressed the need to reactivate borders and border markets and strengthen trade ties by following health guidelines,” a statement issued by the Iranian presidency on the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Hassan Rouhani said. President Rouhani had called the prime minister for Ramazan greetings. Border trade between the two countries was suspended after a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), held on March 13, decided to close all borders because of the pandemic. Islamabad partially relaxed the restrictions on April 21, allowing the import of certain food items and provision of petrol and diesel to the border areas. Cargo traffic from Iran was allowed for three days every week. Cargo movement between the two countries takes place through five border crossings — Taftan...
Post a Comment
Read more

Today’s outlook: Sindh CM discusses reopening markets with PM Khan

Here are some of the stories we are expecting to follow today (Thursday): Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah will take Prime Minister Imran Khan into confidence over reopening shops and markets across the province. The reopened markets will have to follow SOPs. Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah will discuss SOPs with transporters for resuming public transport in the coming days. The meeting will be held at the Sindh Assembly building at 1:30pm. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has proposed a price cut of Rs20.68 per litre for petrol in its summary. Imam-e-Kaaba Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais has said Masjid Al Haram and Masjid Al Nabawi will be reopened for worshipers soon. He said the Kaaba is being sterilised using latest technologies. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will head various meetings during his visit to Bahawalpur. As of Thursday, Pakistan has reported more than 15,500 confirmed coronavirus cases. ICYMI: An amendment to the National Accountability Or...
Post a Comment
Read more