A long-term trade agreement for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be the subject of bilateral negotiations between Pakistan and a Russian delegation that will arrive tomorrow. The much-touted $3 billion Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project will also be discussed.
The 80-member team will arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday for three days of bilateral talks under the Inter-Governmental Commission forum (IGC).
Federal Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will serve as the delegation’s head for the IGC talks. To import Russian oil and LNG on a GtG basis, both governments must first negotiate the IGA (inter-governmental agreement), which was finalized and signed in the case of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project (PSGP), formerly known as the North-South Gas pipeline project.
The News claims that when former prime minister Imran Khan visited Moscow on February 24, 2022, the shareholding and facilitation agreement for PSGP was still in draught shape. Due to disagreements between the specialists from the two sides about a number of the conditions of the shareholding agreement, the PSGP agreement could not be signed during the meeting between Imran and Putin, despite the wishes of both parties.
The G7 countries now maintain a $60 per barrel cap on the price of Russian crude oil and forbid the use of Russian ships to transport oil. In return, Moscow agreed to stop selling oil to countries who accept a Western price cap on its crude.
The Pakistani side will discuss the costs of the shipment, the shipping trader’s premium, the insurance coverage, and the available payment methods.
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The IGC’s agenda includes cooperation in trade and investment in agribusiness, energy, customs, industry, education, research and technology, information and communication technologies, communication, roads and postal service, railroads, and finance. Pakistan’s debt to Russia will also be paid off and discussed.
The two sides will also talk about the possibility of cooperating in the production of oil and gasoline, renewable energy sources, hydropower, electric power, and hydro.
The Pakistani team’s answer included a revision in the PSGP project’s model. The Russian side claimed that, with the exception of a few shareholding agreement elements, the project’s GtG (government-to-government) model had already been decided upon.
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