Pakistan has become a new market for Russian oil

Pakistan placed the first order for Russian oil at a discount, writes Reuters. It is expected that oil will be delivered to the country in May. Thanks to this transaction, Russia receives a new market in addition to India and China , which became its main importers after Western sanctions.

In turn, due to cheap oil, Pakistan receives a response against the background of a crisis with a payment balance and critically low foreign exchange reserves. Energy importance is most of the country's external payments.

As part of the transaction, Pakistan will buy only raw oil, while it is expected that imports will reach 100 thousand barrels per day if the first transaction “passes smoothly”.

According to analysts, in 2022 Pakistan imported 154 thousand barrels of oil per day. Most of this oil was delivered by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Thus, if in the near future the supply of Russian oil reaches a level of 100 thousand barrels per day, this will greatly affect the previous suppliers.

Despite the fact that Western countries set a price ceiling of $ 60 per barrel for everyone who buys Russian oil, India and China pay prices above this limit, show Reuters calculations. At the same time, they still receive oil with a significant discount regarding its real (pre -war) market price.

After the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States, Great Britain and the European Union agreed on the introduction of an oil embargo, and also introduced a number of restrictions that significantly complicate the supply of Russian oil around the world. Because of this, the first time, the companies of China and India refused Russian products, but in the end, giant discounts made them change their minds . Public representatives of the United States and the EU have not yet talked about secondary sanctions for cooperation with the Russian Federation, but informally, the United States asked India to "not build up oil purchases too fast."