Second Shipment of Crude Oil From Russia Faces Delay Amid Storage Issues

The second cargo carrying 55,000 tons of Russian crude to Pakistan has been postponed by a week due to a lack of storage in a tank maintained by Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL). The tanker was initially scheduled to arrive today, but has now been repositioned to reach Pakistan by the end of this month, reported a national daily. According to report, the PRL tanks do not have the capacity to handle crude oil deliveries from Saudi Arabia and Russia on short notice. Due to this logistical issue, the tanker at the Omani port carrying Russian crude has been advised to postpone its departure. On June 12, 2023, a vessel carrying 45,000 tons of Russian crude oil docked at the Karachi port, bringing Pakistan its first cargo of Russian crude oil. The federal government ordered 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil in April after months of negotiations between the two countries on terms and conditions. The first cargo docked at the Omani port earlier this month, from where the government decided to bring it to Pakistan in smaller ships due to limited capacity at port terminals which didn’t have space for ships carrying over 50,000 tons.