Pakistan will receive its first shipment of US crude in October after the country's largest refiner Cnergyico concluded a deal with trading firm Vitol to buy US light sweet WTI.
Cnergyico will import 1mn bl of WTI from Vitol as a "test cargo" for arrival in Karachi, Pakistan, in the second half of October, Cnergyico vice-chairman Usama Qureshi said. "If it continues to remain commercially viable from a gross refining margin (GRM) standpoint, we are open to scaling up imports to around 1mn bl/month."
The deal with Vitol — concluded on 1 August — comes ahead of 7 August when a higher US tariff rate of 19pc will apply to imports from Pakistan. Imports from nearly every US trade partner, including Pakistan, have been subject to a 10pc tariff since 5 April.
The Pakistani government has advised domestic refineries to evaluate the economic feasibility of importing US crude to boost trade with the US, Qureshi said. "For Cnergyico, it made commercial sense, especially since we operate Pakistan's only single-point mooring [facility], which allows us to handle large vessels and reduce freight cost," Qureshi said.
The firm's Cnergyico Pk refinery is Pakistan's largest refinery by capacity and can process 156,000 b/d. But it is currently running at just 30-35pc of its capacity, mainly because of sluggish domestic demand and high product inventories.
The Middle East is currently Pakistan's main crude supplier, data from global trade analytics platforms Kpler and Vortexa show. Imports from the Middle East accounted for around 91pc of Pakistan's crude intake that averaged 169,000 b/d in 2024, Vortexa data show. Pakistan also imported crude from Russia last year such as medium sour Urals, albeit a much smaller volume.
Russia and Pakistan had plans to discuss a potential long-term crude supply agreement later this year. But Pakistan's energy minister Ali Pervaiz Malik acknowledged in June that the quality of Russian Urals crude differs from the Middle East grades typically processed by Pakistani refineries. Additionally, the extended shipping time for Russian crude to reach Pakistan poses logistical challenges for establishing regular supply flows.

