MOSCOW: Independent Russian oil refiner Forteinvest has clinched a deal that will see Russian gasoline sent to Pakistan by land for the first time, two industry sources said on Friday, 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 added.
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 sources said.
Forteinvest did not respond to a request for comment.
The move comes days ahead of a new set of Western sanctions, as G7 countries, and the 27-nation EU as a whole, seek to limit Russia’s revenue from oil exports without disrupting world supply.
A price cap on imported Russian oil products is due to come into force on Feb. 5, along with an EU import ban on Russia’s refined products.
Russia could start exporting oil to energy-starved Pakistan after March if terms are agreed, Russia’s energy minister said on Jan. 20.
Russia will sell crude, petrol and diesel oil to Pakistan at discounted prices, Pakistan’s state minister for petroleum said in December, days after he led a government team to Moscow to negotiate the deal. Pakistan’s foreign minister is due to hold talks in Moscow on Monday.
Historically, Pakistan has had no major commercial energy ties with Moscow. It currently depends on oil from Gulf countries, which often extend facilities such as deferred payments and can supply with lower transport costs, given Pakistan’s proximity.
In 2022, Russia shipped to Afghanistan by rail some 120,000 tons of gasoline from Orsk, Omsk, Salavat, Taneko and TAIF oil refineries, as well as some 41,000 tons of diesel of Belarusian origin and from Russian oil depots. Russia has also exported to the country some 104,000 tons of LPG, rail data shows.
Russian gasoline to be sent to Pakistan as EU import ban looms – traders
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Russian gasoline to be sent to Pakistan as EU import ban looms – traders
- Industry sources say Russian oil refiner Forteinvest is ready to send gasoline to Pakistan by land for the first time
- Pakistan’s foreign minister is expected to hold talks with Russian officials over a range of issues in Moscow next week
Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan
- Agency says it is monitoring indebted energy importers as higher oil prices strain finances
- Gulf economies seen better placed to weather shock, though Bahrain flagged as vulnerable
LONDON: S&P Global said it would not make any knee-jerk sovereign rating cuts following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, but warned on Thursday that soaring oil and gas prices were putting a number of already cash-strapped countries at risk.
The firm’s top analysts said in a webinar that the conflict, which has involved US and Israeli strikes against Iran and Iranian strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, was now moving from a low- to moderate-risk scenario.
Most Gulf countries had enough fiscal buffers, however, to weather the crisis for a while, with more lowly rated Bahrain the only clear exception.
Qatar’s banking sector could also struggle if there were significant deposit outflows in reaction to the conflict, although there was no evidence of such strains at the moment, they said.
“We don’t want to jump the gun and just say things are bad,” S&P’s head global sovereign analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, said.
The longer the crisis was prolonged, though, “the more difficult it is going to be,” he added.
Sifon-Arevalo said Asia was the second-most exposed region, due to many of its countries being significant Gulf oil and gas importers.
India, Thailand and Indonesia have relatively lower reserves of oil, while the region also had already heavily indebted countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka whose finances would be further hurt by rising energy prices.
“We are closely monitoring these (countries) to see how the credit stories evolve,” Sifon-Arevalo said.
