MOSCOW: Russia can export its natural gas to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the long term, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with TASS.
“If we talk about perspective, this includes exports of gas to Afghanistan and Pakistan – either using the infrastructure projects of Central Asia or through a swap from the territory of Iran. That is, we will receive their gas in the south of the country, and in exchange, we will supply gas to the north for Iranian consumers,” Novak said.
Novak said earlier that Russia and Iran may reach an agreement on swap supplies of oil and gas by the end of this year. “We expect around 5 mln tons [of oil] per year and up to 10 bln cubic meters [of gas] at the first stage,” Deputy Prime Minister said.
Earlier this month, State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik had stated that Russia would sell crude oil to Pakistan at a discounted price, days after he led a government team to Moscow to negotiate the deal.
Russia would also supply discounted petrol and diesel to Pakistan, Musadik Malik had told a news conference in Islamabad.
He did not specify the price of the discounted Russian oil or say whether the imports would comply with a $60 per barrel cap imposed by the G7 nations and the EU on Russian seaborne oil from this week over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pakistan has been unable to procure LNG from the international market because spot prices remain out of its range and shipments under long-term deals remain insufficient to match rising demand.
With dwindling local gas reserves, the country has begun to ration supplies to residential and commercial consumers. Local media has also reported that oil supplies remain tenuous owing to difficulties in paying for imports.