Pakistan is encouraging its refiners to consider buying crude oil from Libya to diversify its oil supply amid the Middle East crisis, Pakistani Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said. Malik met Khalifa Rajab Abdulsadek, Libya’s Minister of Oil and Gas, on the sidelines of an energy event in Saudi Arabia to discuss strengthening cooperation in the oil and gas sector, and told his Libyan counterpart that Pakistan had encouraged its refineries to explore importing Libyan crude oil, local media reported.
To boost its energy security, Pakistan also plans to upgrade refineries, build critical infrastructure, and increase domestic oil and gas exploration, both offshore and onshore, the minister said. A Turkish seismic vessel is expected to arrive in Pakistan next month to begin data acquisition in the Indus Basin. Earlier this year, Pakistan’s national Oil and Gas Development Company signed an agreement with Canada’s Synergetic Oil Tools to deploy advanced technology aimed at boosting production from heavy crude oil fields.
Since the Iran war crippled oil and fuel supply from the Middle East, Pakistan’s key energy supplier, the country has paid record premiums for fuel imports, scrambled to procure alternative crude supply, and paid the highest price for LNG cargoes since 2022. Pakistan’s refiners have been inquiring with traders about potential crude oil supply from the US, Nigeria and Central Asia, amid the crisis that threatens supply from both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.