The Karachi port received a second shipment of discounted Russian crude oil on Tuesday, which included 55,000 tonnes.

Upon confirmation of its berthing plan, the ship will dock at the oil pier. Sources previously reported that the vessel named ‘Clyde Noble’ was carrying Urals oil to Karachi port.

As per the agreement between Islamabad and Moscow, the second cargo was supposed to arrive on June 20; however, it has been delayed by a week and is expected to dock today.

The delay was attributed to a lack of space in Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) storage tanks. As part of the government-led deal, PRL is the first domestic refinery to receive crude oil from Russia.

As a tanker carrying 45,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil docked at Karachi port on June 12, Pakistan received its first shipment of crude oil from Russia.

After months of negotiations, the government ordered 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude oil in April this year.

A Russian oil tanker carrying 100,000 metric tons of crude arrived at the Omani port early this month under this agreement. The authorities decided, however, that the oil would be transported to Pakistan by smaller ships since the Pakistani port could not accommodate heavy ships.

Due to technical difficulties, the vessel, which was loaded with Ural crude on April 21 at a Russian port, was delayed for 10 days.

A long queue awaited it at Egypt’s Suez Canal for 12 days after it arrived on May 17.

The PRL, National Refinery Limited, Pak Arab Refinery Limited, and Byco Petroleum refine 70% of Pakistan’s crude oil. Approximately 30% of the raw materials are produced locally and refined by Attock Refinery Limited, a domestic company.

According to insiders in the oil industry, PRL is currently refining Russian crude to produce petroleum products. In response to a PRL order for the necessary oil, they informed us that Russian crude oil was being blended with Arabian crude.