Karachi, June 27, 2023 – A second shipment of discounted Russian crude oil, weighing 55,000 tonnes, reached the Karachi port on Tuesday.
The vessel named ‘Clyde Noble’ carried Urals oil and was en route to the Karachi port in the Arabian Sea, as per earlier reports from sources.
After confirming its berthing plan, the ship will be docked at the oil pier. Initially scheduled to arrive on June 20 under the deal between Islamabad and Moscow, the second cargo experienced a one-week delay and was rescheduled to dock today. The reason for the delay was the lack of space in the storage tanks of Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL), the first domestic refinery to receive crude oil from Russia under the government-led agreement.
Pakistan had received its first cargo of Russian crude oil on June 12, when a tanker carrying 45,000 tonnes of crude oil docked at the Karachi port. This order for the first 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil was placed by the government in April after extensive negotiations between the two countries to finalize the terms and conditions of the deal.
In early June, Russia sent the first oil tanker with 100,000 metric tonnes of crude to the Omani port. However, due to the Pakistani port’s limitations in accommodating heavy ships carrying over 50,000 tonnes of oil cargo, the authorities decided to transport the oil to Pakistan using smaller vessels. Notably, the loaded vessel, which contained Ural crude and departed from a Russian port on April 21, experienced a 10-day delay due to technical reasons. Subsequently, it arrived at Egypt’s Suez Canal on May 17, where it encountered a 12-day wait in a long queue before crossing the canal.
Pakistan currently imports 70% of its crude oil, which is refined by PRL, National Refinery Limited, Pak Arab Refinery Limited, and Byco Petroleum. The remaining 30% is domestically produced and refined by Attock Refinery Limited, a local entity. Oil industry insiders revealed that PRL is presently engaged in refining the Russian crude to produce essential petroleum products. They also mentioned that the Russian crude oil is being blended with Arabian crude, which arrived a few days ago following a PRL order for the necessary oil.
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