Pakistan Karachi Refinery Set for Long-Term Russian Ural Supply

Pakistan Refining Company (PRL) has entered a long-term contract to receive Russian Ural oil for its Karachi refinery according to Express Tribune reports.

• The deal is for 75,000 tons of Russian crude/month according to Bloomberg correspondence with the company.
• PRL has already run a trial import shipment of 100,000 tons of Urals which it claims to have processed successfully. Refiners in Pakistan have been testing Urals in its refineries to assess the economic viability of running the crude.
• Pakistan is targeting discounted Russian barrels due to its difficultly competing on the global market for energy supplies.
• Additionally, PRL has signed an agreement with the United Energy Group (UEG) of China to boost its Karachi refinery from 47,000 bpd to around double that level. The Chinese firm will invest $1.5 billion in the expansion of PRL’s production capacity.
• PRL are aiming to boost gasoline and diesel production and reduce the production of furnace oil, the latter of which Urals oil is understood to produce high quantities of.