(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Qabil Ashirov read more A Pakistani delegation made up of three ministers is on an
official visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.
The delegation includes federal Minister of State for Petroleum
Musadik Malik, Minister of Board of investment and Special
Initiatives Chaudhry Salik Hussain, and Minister of Industries and
Production Syed Murtaza Mahmood.
The visit started on February 18 and will continue until
February 23. The purpose of the visit is to negotiate importing
petroleum, oil, and lubricant (POL) products, and to agree on
liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies at affordable prices.
As a senior official at the Pakistani Energy Ministry told the
local media, in 2016, Azerbaijan had submitted an offer to Pakistan
for providing finished POL products and LNG on two credit lines of
$220 million.
“Both countries earlier inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement
(IGA) in 2017 under which Azerbaijan's state-owned SOCAR was
supposed to provide oil and gas products, including furnace oil,
petrol, diesel, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). SOCAR to this
effect had offered two separate credit lines of $120 million for
LNG and $100 million for petroleum products for 60 days,” the
official said.
'In addition, the official said, the Petroleum Division had not
availed itself of the offer for import of liquefied natural gas
(LNG) on credit because its price at that time was 'substantially
more' as compared to the-then price of spot cargoes and term
cargoes from Qatar. Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOGAR) also
expressed frustration many times over the Petroleum Division's
prolonged silence.
Besides, in July 2021, Pakistani Ambassador to Baku Bilal Hayee
also alerted the Pakistani government over the issue in
question.
'Now Pakistan, facing an acute dollar liquidity crisis, wants a
deal with Azerbaijan for the import of Mogas on credit, and to this
effect, Pakistan's state-owned Pakistan State Oil and Azerbaijan's
SOCAR have held meetings in the recent past.
“We will seek 1-2 cargoes of Mogas (Automotive gasoline) a month
from SOCAR,” the official said.
As far as the LNG offer from SOCAR is concerned, the official
said that the firm has no LNG with it as it is over-committed with
European countries. However, Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) is in talks
for an agreement with SOCAR for providing Pakistan a distressed LNG
cargo at affordable prices if compared with the current market
prices.
---