ASTANA, July 3 A delegation from Pakistan will soon visit Moscow to discuss cooperation in the fuel and energy complex, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.
“We agreed that a Pakistani delegation will visit Moscow in the near future. In turn, we will send (our delegation — ed.) to Pakistan in order to move on to a practical level of discussing cooperation issues. We are also talking about the participation of Russian companies in construction and reconstruction of electric power facilities, primarily hydroelectric power plants in Pakistan, thermal power plants. A large list of issues,” he said.
By According to Novak, at the meeting of the heads of Russia and Pakistan in Astana, the issue of supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Islamic republic was discussed. The issue of construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline was also discussed. In addition, Novak said that Russia has already provided 7 million barrels of oil supplies to Pakistan. Work in this direction will continue, the Deputy Prime Minister believes.
In October, former head of the Russian Ministry of Energy Nikolai Shulginov said that Russia was negotiating with Pakistan about long-term oil supplies to the Islamic republic. In addition, Russia offered Pakistan to buy Russian LNG, including Novatek, on the spot market.
Pakistan Energy Minister Muhammad Ali reported last year that the country is discussing signing a long-term contract with Russia for the supply of its oil, thinking about volumes of 0.7-1 million tons per year.
The Pakistan Stream gas pipeline, originally called North-South, should connect the infrastructure to receive LNG at the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in southern Pakistan with power plants and industrial gas consumers in Kasur district (Punjab) in the north of the country. Its length according to the project will be more than 1.1 thousand kilometers, the throughput capacity was expected to be up to 12.3 billion cubic meters per year, but, as Shulginov said, this capacity will be more — 16 billion.