Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to expand oil, refinery and minerals cooperation

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to strengthen strategic cooperation in oil storage, refinery upgrades, the procurement of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and the minerals sector, according to a Petroleum Division statement reported by Dawn.

The statement said the cooperation was intended to promote bilateral economic ties between the two countries. It did not set out volumes of crude oil or LPG, the investment involved, which refineries would be upgraded, or which mineral projects were under discussion.

In the same announcement, Saudi Arabia said it would introduce same-day visa processing for Pakistani citizens at its embassy in Islamabad with immediate effect. The reports did not say what conditions apply to the facility, whether it extends to Saudi consulates elsewhere in Pakistan, or which visa categories it covers, including work, visit, Umrah and Hajj visas.

Dawn reported that Pakistan has been planning to increase its domestic storage for crude oil and refined products in order to strengthen energy security, and that the country currently has no strategic petroleum reserves. The statement did not say what form the storage cooperation with Saudi Arabia would take.

Neither report named the officials who took part in the discussions, said where they were held, or gave a timeline for implementing the refinery and minerals components of the understanding.

The minerals sector has been a recurring subject in Pakistan's economic diplomacy, but the Petroleum Division statement as reported did not identify any specific project, mineral or company. The oil and refinery component was similarly described only in general terms, with no indication of whether new supply contracts, upgrade financing or joint ventures are envisaged.

The Diplomatic Insight carried the same development under a similar headline, without detail beyond the Petroleum Division statement.

Saudi Arabia is one of Pakistan's principal sources of imported crude and refined products, and any arrangement on storage or refinery capacity would bear on the country's import bill and its ability to hold reserve stocks. The announcement gave no figure for either.