Russia ready to offer coal, not LNG

[-blitzkrieg-]

That's not how it works, Russia can sell to whoever it wants, as long as it has leverage over you they can apply pressure to prevent the sale if they don't want it taking place

Russians don't have much leverage on Pakistan.

 

[CrazyZ]

we already have coal we need LNG

We need black coal too. Russia is willing to sell LNG to Pakistan......it just can not supply on short notice. All the cargoes have been bought by France and EU nations at huge markup.

 

[kingQamaR]

Exactly. At least you point to the truth.

One point, was it better to show your middle finger to uncle Sam and ensure your energy security for decades with a trustworthy partner or make the whole country dependent on LNG?

Inspite of our desire of very good relations with iran neighbour there are always ups & downs

The easiest pipeline would be on the Pakistan coastline. This has long been planned and Iran already built its section. It was delayed in Pakistan by Iran sanctions and more recently by price disagreement.

But even without a pipeline thousands of barrels of Iranian oil is smuggled over the border to us daily

 

[Mav3rick]

OPEC has absolutely no reason to help Biden out. USA is pushing an anti fossil fuel bandwagon based on eco hysteria, which does not help the oil industry on any way, shape or form.

Oil will 'eventually' run out and Kingdom's will run dry. The Kingdom would have what, 30-40 years of Oil left whereas the world is trying to target 2050 for compliance with carbon emissions; I guess the world's carbon emission target and Kingdom's oil will go hand in hand until both conclude. That's the reason both Saudi and UAE are trying to diversify their export portfolios.

Inspite of our desire of very good relations with iran neighbour there are always ups & downs

The easiest pipeline would be on the Pakistan coastline. This has long been planned and Iran already built its section. It was delayed in Pakistan by Iran sanctions and more recently by price disagreement.

But even without a pipeline thousands of barrels of Iranian oil is smuggled over the border to us daily

The Oil being smuggled from Iran is benefitting the smugglers and their handlers immensely but it is doing nothing for the Government. Too bad we cannot do something about it just because the US has unilateral sanctions on Iran which we cannot circumvent......Iran can also provide additional, cheaper electricity, on top of what it is already providing to Baluchistan but even there we are unable to do anything.

 

[Muhammed45]

Oil will 'eventually' run out and Kingdom's will run dry. The Kingdom would have what, 30-40 years of Oil left whereas the world is trying to target 2050 for compliance with carbon emissions; I guess the world's carbon emission target and Kingdom's oil will go hand in hand until both conclude. That's the reason both Saudi and UAE are trying to diversify their export portfolios.


The Oil being smuggled from Iran is benefitting the smugglers and their handlers immensely but it is doing nothing for the Government. Too bad we cannot do something about it just because the US has unilateral sanctions on Iran which we cannot circumvent......Iran can also provide additional, cheaper electricity, on top of what it is already providing to Baluchistan but even there we are unable to do anything.

Lol, @kingQamaR is counting on smuggled oil.

They buy it cheap its true but they sell it in Pakistan's local markets at higher price which makes little to no difference.

 

[925boy]

and Pakistan isnt serious about IP or IPI pipeline either, so in general, Pakistan isnt that serious about buying gas, based on actions.

@CrazyZ

Cant blame the Russians. If you guys are supplying weapons to Ukraine, how do you expect them to supply you gas.

Regards

The Saudis, however, consider Oil a commodity and want to sell it at the highest possible rate.

US sanctions on Russia at the start of the Ukraine war CONFIRMED that oil and gas ARE commodies in 2022 - world population just passed 8bn, and the world's energy reserves are much less today than decades ago- and when you add currency manipulation like the USD and Swift sanctions etc, oil is now acting like a commodity AND sovereign asset- oil sellers today are asset and cash rich- hydrocarbon energy is a commodity today.

 

[RescueRanger]

ISLAMABAD: Russia has reportedly declined to sell Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Pakistan on short notice but is ready to offer coal, well informed sources in Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) told Business Recorder.

Pakistan’s Minister of State for Petroleum wrote a letter to Russian Minister for Energy last month and showed an interest in purchase of LNG from Russia ostensibly to meet energy requirements in winter months. Recently, Pakistan ambassador to Russia, Shafqat Ali Khan met with the Russian Minister for Energy to handover the letter of October 11, 2022 written by Minister of State for Petroleum on the subject of procurement of LNG from Russia.

In response, the Russian side said LNG contracts were made on a long-term basis and arranging them at short notice was difficult, however, they would positively consider Pakistan’s request, the sources added.

In 2020, Russia held proven reserves of 37.4 trillion cubic meters of natural gas - up from 34.1 cubic meters recorded a decade ago.

Referring to the discussion between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, in their meeting in Samarkand on September 15, the Russian Energy Minister inquired if Pakistan’s request for procurement of coal from Russia still stands.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Russia’s coal reserves are located within 22 coal basins and 146 separate deposits. More than half of the total reserves are brown coal - 146 billion tons. Bituminous coal accounts for 120.4 billion tons, of which 50.1 billion tons are suitable for coking.

The sources further stated that Russian Embassy in Islamabad in a letter on October 28, recommended that in the 8th session of the Russian-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation to be held on January 18-20, 2023 in Islamabad the issue related to energy sector would come under discussion.

The eight session of IGC will be co-chaired by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq from Pakistan’s side and Nikolay Shulginov, Minister for Energy from Russian side. In this regard, inter-ministerial meeting (IMM) regarding follow up on implementation of the decision taken during seventh session of IGC under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary-1, Ministry of Economic Affairs is scheduled to be held tomorrow (November 16).

Pakistan is trying to strike a deal with Russia for import of oil but still nothing concrete has come out from interactions between the two countries. Pakistan is also importing wheat from Russia through Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) on G2G basis.

During the last IGC meeting, Russians had informed the Pakistani side about the interest of the Russian company Digital Industrial Platform LLC (a joint venture of Gazprom Neft PJSC and Zyfra LLC) in developing fruitful cooperation with Pakistani oil & gas companies including but not limited to OGDCL, PSO, SNGPL and SSGCL in implementing and jointly developing and marketing the industrial digital solutions for oil & gas sector. The two sides also supported an interest of Habib Rafiq Engineering (Pvt.) LTD and its subsidiaries or associates to cooperate with Digital Industrial Platform LLC (a joint venture of Gazprom Neft PJSC and Zyfra LLC) in jointly exploring the opportunities for developing, marketing and implementing the industrial digital solutions for oil & gas sector in the Pakistani market on open industrial IoT platform.

The Commission had noted that PSO also floats tenders for import of LNG from time to time and is looking forward to the participation of Russian companies in future tenders.

The Commission noted the proposal of Pakistani side to explore possibilities for investment in Pakistan by Russian Companies in: (i) setting up of refineries; (ii) existing refineries upgrade; (iii) virtual LNG pipelines; (iv) onshore storage of LNG; (v) strategic oil storages; and (vi) strategic gas storages (under this point the Pakistan side will consider the proposal from the Russian side to develop underground gas storages in continuation of the “Pakistan Stream” project).

Russia ready to offer coal, not LNG

* Pakistan is trying to strike a deal with Russia for import of oil

www.brecorder.com

Ullu da Phatta!

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,

Russia disappoints?​

November 19, 2022
EDITORIAL:


It’s too soon to tell whether reports about Russia offering coal instead of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) to Pakistan are true or not, but it’s already clear that we are in for a very difficult winter. Islamabad should, in fact, have realised that arranging LNG contracts is a long-term business, especially these days, and Moscow would not be able to commit on such short notice.

It was only in October that the power minister wrote to his Russian counterpart to explore the opportunity of importing LNG, after all, considering the shortfall for winter months. But the spot market is in a flux, mainly because of the changing security and political environment in Europe, and serious buyers would already have paid top dollar for winter contracts.

Besides, record shortfall in countries like Germany and France, because of the Ukraine war and sanctions on Russia, means that LNG hoarding season is also peaking with the winter cold. The Russians have reportedly said that they would “positively consider” Pakistan’s request, which seems about as far as this thing is going to go for now.


Perhaps matters could still have been escalated if the power minister had taken the trouble of going to Moscow for serious talks instead of sending a letter through the Pakistani ambassador there and reserving his own time for political talk shows on prime-time TV. Pakistan and Russia have been warming up very nicely since the then prime minister Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow some months ago, even though it also caused a considerable controversy. And this was the time to drive in the advantage, instead of taking such matters so lightly.

Now the minister will most likely be forced to take a break from confrontational politics and give more time to his ministry because there is going to be a scramble to meet domestic energy requirements. According to another verifiable report, the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) has determined the accumulated fuel requirement for three months – November 2022 to January 2023 – and warned of a generation shortfall in case of non- or under-supply of required fuels or other unforeseen events.

It has also said that apart from operational requirements of fuel-oil at various power plants, the fuel-oil stock that is consumed must also be replenished by consistent/cyclic stock buildup at all oil-based power plants. Otherwise, the fuel shortage would just trigger another power shortfall when demand peaks.

These are very serious matters and the power ministry’s paralysis is not just harming businesses and people, as usual, this time it is also going to hurt the ruling party.

The people are fed up with one needless economic crisis after another squeezing their life savings, and inflation rampaging when growth is dropping and unemployment is rising. They have already expressed their displeasure at various by-elections and local government polls. If they are put through yet another winter with power and gas shortage just because the power ministry was always behind on its homework, then they are sure to deliver a very severe verdict at the next general election.

Surely, the time to work out LNG imports for the Nov-Jan period was before October. Relying on imports without carrying out necessary discussions and drawing out contracts is simply unforgivable; especially when the economy is on life support, the country’s ratings are being dumped by leading agencies, and credit default swaps (CDSs) are flashing default level red flags all over again.

In sum, it’s not the Russians that have disappointed regarding the matter of importing LNG; it is the sitting government in Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022