The prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif,announced this weekend that oil and gas corporations operating in the country intend to invest $5 billion over the next three years to investigate drilling locations in the South Asian nation.
During a meeting with government officials, representatives from companies in Pakistan’s exploration and production (E&P) sector revealed their plans to drill over 240 sites in the country, which imports the majority of its energy. These sites are being searched for hydrocarbons. After consulting the sector, Pakistan formed a committee that will create ideas to draw in investments for oil and gas exploration, according to a report by the Pakistani publication The News.
According to the prime minister of Pakistan, the country is eager to increase its oil imports from Russia in addition to seeking to draw in investments for exploration. According to Sharif, Pakistan and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had fruitful talks.The prime minister of Pakistan was cited by The News as stating, “I hope he will visit Pakistan soon.”
He continued, “We want to import more oil from Russia.Pakistan began buying Russian crude oil last year; the first shipments were made on a government-to-government basis, and the cargoes arrived in June 2023. Since Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were depleting and oil and gas prices spiked in 2022, the country has been keen to buy energy at cheap prices to avoid being outbid on the market. Due to a currency exchange agreement with China, the nation would be able to pay for crude oil more easily than with its meager holdings of US dollars.
The first Russian crude cargo to enter the South Asian nation’s private sector was imported, according to Cnergyico, a commercial refiner in Pakistan, in October.A Cnergyico spokesperson told Reuters at the time that the private refiner, which runs Pakistan’s largest refinery with a capacity of 156,000 barrels per day (bpd), had engaged sanctions lawyers and done due research to ensure that the acquisition does not violate the sanctions against Russia.
