KSA begins oil supply on deferred payment
Pakistan will receive oil worth $3.2 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia annually
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday will begin oil supplies to Pakistan on deferred payments from this month.
In a statement issued by the Saudi government, the implementation on package agreed between Islamabad and Riyadh in February this year will start from today (Monday).
Pakistan will receive oil worth $3.2 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia annually. The Pakistani government will receive the oil of worth more than $275 million per month from Saudi Arabia as per the package.
Sources said that Pakistan will get oil on deferred payments for three years and these supplies will continue over the next three years with a total value of 9.9 billion dollars.
It is pertinent here to mention that in last October Saudi Arabia had announced an economic support package for Pakistan which included three billion dollars for supporting balance of external payments.
The Saudi agreement came after Prime Minister Imran Khan attended a Saudi investment conference that has been boycotted by several other leaders over the death of a dissident Saudi writer at the country’s consulate in Istanbul.
Moreover the package included oil imports on deferred payments. The agreement concluded between the two sides reached a total amount of 20 billion dollars.
According to the agreement, the Saudi Aramco will supply around 110,000 barrels per day crude oil to Pakistan’s state run Pak Arab Refinery and National Refinery for refining.
Pakistan’s petroleum group imports including crude and Liquefied Natural Gas LNG stood at $13.26 billion during the last fiscal year FY 18 while the country has imported $6.8 billion worth of petroleum product during the first 5 months of current fiscal year FY 19.
Khan had said before departing that his country was “desperate” to shore up its foreign currency reserves, which are at a four-year low, equivalent to less than two months’ imports and barely enough to make its debt repayments through the rest of the year.
