Business

PRL to submit report on Russian oil in July

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

PRL may take two months to refine 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude.
Refineries already facing a shortage of furnace oil; export it at 25% loss.
Arrival of remaining Russian crude readjusted due to storage constraints.

ISLAMABAD: In two weeks, the Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) is likely to submit to the government a report about the quality, yields, and commercial viability of the Russian crude oil URAL — which is heavier — The News reported, quoting a Petroleum Division senior official.

The PRL, which is in the process of refining Russian crude, will submit the report to the Petroleum Division about the yields (production of petrol, diesel, FO, and light diesel oil, in terms of percentages), quality, and — more importantly — its viability for Pakistan’s economy after refining cost and margins of the refinery have been worked out.

The report will help the government’s relevant functionaries decide whether to go for a GtG import deal with Russia.

The local refineries currently produce an average of motor spirit (petrol) at 25-30% and furnace oil at 45% by using the crude of Saudi Aramco and ADNOC.

However, the official said that half of the 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude would be exported as furnace oil at 75% of the crude cost with a 25% loss because URAL crude is heavier crude, and 50% of furnace oil will be produced.

“Pakistan refineries that use crude mostly from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC are already facing an ullage of furnace oil in their storages and they export the furnace oil with a 25% loss.”

The deep conversion refineries in Dubai make finished products out of the furnace oil that Pakistan refineries have exported at 25%.

The official said PRL — an old refinery — is processing the Russian crude.

Even though the heavy Russian crude is a discounted fuel, PRL will produce 50% furnace oil out of it, meaning that the ship containing 50,000 tonnes will be exported as furnace oil as its utility in Pakistan is not up to the mark.

Last Sunday, PRL just exported 25,000 furnace oil out of the crude that it normally uses from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC.

“However, because of the gas crisis in the country, and the increase in temperature, the demand of electricity has increased and the authorities concerned have started using the local furnace oil for power generation too.”

The official disclosed that PRL might take two months’ time to refine 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude as it first blends 25-30% of Russian URAL with 70-75% of the crude from Saudi Aramco, and then it refines the blended crude.

The Petroleum Division official said the first cargo carrying 45,000 tonnes of Russian crude arrived at Karachi Port Trust on June 11. Now, the same shipment with 55,000 tonnes would arrive again on June 29 — earlier scheduled to arrive on June 20.

The arrival of remaining Russian crude has been readjusted because of the storage constraints. And on top of it, the official said a vessel containing 70,000 tonnes crude oil from Saudi Aramco is due on June 25 for Pakistan Refinery Limited.

The main ship from Russia with 100,000 tonnes of URAL crude arrived in Oman on June 7. From there, a small ship had been arranged to transport the crude in two rounds.

Business

Robust activity lets PSX climb above 115,000 level again.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

On Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed its upward trend, crossing 115,000 points once more.

The PSX had strong action in the morning session, as the KSE-100 index increased by 1,000 points to 115,138.

The notoriously volatile PSX closed Thursday at 114,037 points, up 594 points.

DOLLAR DEPRECIES

Meanwhile, in the interbank market this morning, the US dollar fell 7 paisas to Rs278.65 against the Pakistani rupee.

Business

SBP will announce monetary policy on January 27.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.

In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.

“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.

“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.

“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.

Business

Finance Minister Meets With World Leaders at World Economic Forum in Davos

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

During his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with officials of organisations and leaders of many nations.
Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Younas, met with Mohammad Aurangzeb.
On the fringes of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 Opening Banquet, there was an informal meeting.
Additionally, the Finance Minister met with Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Both leaders discussed economic cooperation and bilateral ties.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also had a meeting with Dp World’s Rizwan Soomro and Yuvraj Narayan.
They talked about how to strengthen Pakistan’s logistics and infrastructure systems to support trade.
“The Pakistani government is committed to advancing joint projects and values partnerships in both business-to-business and business-to-government cooperation,” the finance minister added.