Business

Russian delegation in Pakistan to finalise oil import deal

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Delegation is here to finalise agreement, including payment mode.
Once deal is done, Pakistan will place order for crude oil purchase.
Russian ship will arrive in 26 days, most probably by mid-May.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan moved a step closer to sealing its loan deal with Russia as the team has arrived in Karachi to fine-tune the deal on crude oil with counterparts in Pakistan State Oil (PSO), The News reported citing a senior official privy to the development.

“This time, we are expecting all the hurdles will be removed in importing crude oil from Russia,” the official said. However, the Energy Ministry is tight-lipped over the mode of payment and discount on crude oil prices.

It should be noted that last month the technical teams of the Operational Services Centre (PSC) — a Russian state-owned entity — held talks for two days on March 21-22 with the PSO team, which ended without progress on the constitution of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) responsible not only for importing the crude but also for the payments.

“The Russian delegation is here now to finalise the government-to-government agreement, including the mode of payment. Russia is currently asking for payment in China’s Yuan or Ruble, but Pakistan wants to pay in rupee,” the official told the publication.

According to inside sources, once the deal is done, Pakistan will place the order to Russia for crude oil purchase.

“The Russian ship will arrive in 26 days, most probably by mid-May. The current Brent price in the international market hovers at $85.16 per barrel whereas the Russian oil is available at $47-48 per barrel.”

At the same time, according to top officials, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is asking some local banks, including the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), to open letters of credit for importing Russian oil but they are hesitant to do so mainly because of the G7 countries’ regulations of following the price cap of $60 per barrel or below it and making the payments under Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) arrangement.

The officials said that PSO had never imported crude oil as it only imports finished petroleum products from various sources and diesel from KPC (Kuwait Petroleum Company).

Refineries have been importing crude under long-term agreements from ADNOC and Saudi Aramco. But in the case of Russian crude, refineries will not be involved in the import, but it will be SPV with representatives from PSO and PSC.

“Pakistan may get Russian crude price with a discount close to $50 per barrel, $10 per barrel below the cap price imposed by G7 countries on Russian oil in the wake of the war on Ukraine,” relevant officials hinted.

However, one of the top guns in the coalition government said that the decision to import the Russian crude under the government-to-government agreement at a 30% discount may not provide the required relief as 26 days of transposition from the Russian port to Pakistan port will incur the per barrel shipping cost at $15 per barrel and $ 10 per barrel refining cost will erode the maximum discount.

On top of that, Pakistan refineries will only be able to extract just 10% MS out of Ural crude and 50% furnace oil.

The refineries are already facing the ullage of furnace oil. The only consumption of furnace oil in Pakistan depends upon running the RFO-based power plants.

The industrial sources suggest the government conduct a commercial analysis if the import of Russian oil will benefit Pakistan’s economy or not and, if yes, to what extent.

Business

Exchange achieves all-time high: KSE-100 index surpasses 72,500 points

Published

13 hours ago

Farwa

With the benchmark KSE-100 index hitting a record-breaking high of 72,501 points, the Karachi Stock Exchange saw yet another incredible rise.

Within Pakistan’s financial environment, investors demonstrated a strong sense of trust in the market as the bullish trend continued.

As a result of the significant inflow of investment and optimism among market players, the index had an amazing 450-point rise during the trading session.

In their analysis of the market’s remarkable performance, financial analysts pointed to a number of causes for the upward trend, such as encouraging economic data, robust company profits, and the government’s proactive measures to promote economic expansion.

The durability and upward momentum of the market have also been greatly aided by continuous infrastructural investments and efforts meant to boost investor confidence.

In the meantime, interbank rates increased by six paisas, and the US dollar’s value saw a slight rise in the currency market. As a result of the current market conditions and the dynamic nature of foreign exchange swings, the dollar was quoted at Rs 278.45 in the interbank market.

Business

The investment plan for K-Electric will be audited every three months.

Published

13 hours ago

Farwa

In light of K-Electric’s inability to persuade NEPRA with its Rs. 484 billion investment plan, the regulatory body has decided to hold off on making changes to the utility’s Transmission & Distribution Investment Plan until FY 2030.

As stated in the order, the NEPRA will select the terms of reference (ToR) for the third-party audit in addition to announcing the quarterly audit. A report on the company’s investment plan’s progress will need to be submitted every quarter.

A performance report would also be required under the investment plan by K-Electric, Karachi’s only power distribution utility, according to the statement. A secure mechanism to avoid electrical mishaps was also mandated by the authority to the utility.

In the meantime, the power distribution firm stated in a statement that the investment plan will boost the utility’s infrastructure to meet present and future demands, decrease transmission and distribution losses, and increase customer base growth.

With investments totaling Rs. 544 billion, KE has been able to more than halve its T&D losses and quadruple its customer base and power consumption since privatisation, according to the statement.

A hearing in March 2023 was held to inform stakeholders about the projects that KE management had planned for FY2024–FY2030, and the statement claimed that the plan had been presented in compliance with regulatory requirements.

In terms of investment areas including expansion, energy loss reduction, network rehabilitation, maintenance, and safety, KE claimed to have clearly defined priorities and projects for this era.

The plan calls for the construction of transmission lines and grids, which will increase the dependability of KE’s network and make it possible to take on more electricity from the National Grid.

In order to manage the city’s needs through targeted investments and tech-based interventions, CEO KE Moonis Alvi said, “We are looking to invest $2 billion in Transmission and Distribution over the next 7 years.” The work of all the stakeholders who have contributed to this trip and who will help us modernise our infrastructure and get ready for the future is something I’d like to acknowledge.

The investment plan is a supplement to the business’s Power Acquisition Programme, which outlines KE’s goal of having 30% renewable energy in its generation mix by 2030. As part of its efforts to provide everyone with access to reasonably priced energy, the firm has also been granted regulatory permission for its RFPs for 640 MW of renewable projects.

Business

$399 million in airline revenue is being blocked by Pakistan. IATA

Published

14 hours ago

Farwa

Pakistan and Bangladesh have been urged by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to promptly release airline profits that are being withheld in violation of international agreements.

“Airlines are unable to repatriate over $720 million ($399 million in Pakistan and $323 million in Bangladesh) of revenues earned in these markets, resulting in a severe situation,” an IATA statement stated.

“Money-denominated expenses like lease agreements, spare parts, overflight fees, and fuel must be paid for in a timely manner by repatriating revenues to their home countries.”

Delaying repatriation raises exchange rate risks for airlines and violates bilateral agreements’ international commitments. In order for airlines to effectively continue to offer the aviation connectivity that both of these countries depend on, Pakistan and Bangladesh must immediately release the more than $720 million that they are blocking, according to Philip Goh, Regional Vice President for Asia-Pacific at IATA.

Pakistan needs to make the difficult repatriation procedure less complicated. According to the statement, this presently includes the need to present audit certifications and tax exemption certificates, both of which create needless delays.

Approximately 425,000 jobs and $2.8 billion in economic activity were supported by Pakistan’s aviation industry prior to COVID-19. Passenger numbers are predicted to increase by more than 2.5 times by 2040 after returning to pre-COVID levels in 2023, according to the statement.