Pakistan and Russia are "very actively" engaged in the talks on energy cooperation, with Islamabad expecting to receive soon the third delivery of Russian crude oil, Pakistani Ambassador to Moscow Muhammad Khalid Jamali told Sputnik.
"Both Pakistan and Russia are very actively engaged in the negotiations over cooperation in the energy sector. The first test cargo consignment of crude oil arrived in Pakistan in the month of June. At the moment, advanced level talks are underway for long-term supply of oil from Russia, both at government and private sector level," Jamali told Sputnik.
The ambassador also said that Pakistan's crude oil imports from Russia had amounted to $20 million in 2023. Moscow and Islamabad are currently discussing the technical details of a future long-term contract for the supply of Russian oil, including the payment mechanism and needed volumes of supply, Jamali added.
The diplomat said that Pakistan and Russia had already signed an agreement on the construction of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline that would stretch from the Pakistani port city of Karachi to Kasur in the country's Punjab province.
"Like other areas of cooperation in the energy sector, healthy negotiations are going on for the development of a comprehensive framework for implementation of this project. It would be premature to say as to when the project implementation phase will start," Jamali said.
In late March, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russian and Pakistani companies were working on the issue of Russian oil supplies. In particular, they reached preliminary agreements on the price of oil and discussed the delivery of a pilot batch of oil, which was delivered to Pakistan in June.