khyaal
09-03-2008, 06:58 PM
* Oil import bill expected to rise over $14.5 billion
By Zafar Bhutta
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan to wait for its final response regarding the Saudi Oil Facility (SOF) till the election of the new president of Pakistan, sources in the Petroleum Ministry told Daily Times on Monday.
The sources said Saudi Arabia did not give a final response to a delegation led by Finance Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also holds the charge of the Petroleum Ministry. Saudi Arabia said it was observing the current situation in Pakistan and would give a final response on the oil facility after the presidential election, they said.
The sources said that the Pakistani delegation placed two requests before the government of Saudi Arabia. One was to grant a one-year extension in the oil credit facility enabling Pakistan to import oil on deferred payments.
Import bill: The other request was for a grant to ease the financial burden on oil imports, as during the last financial year the import bill had exceeded $11 billion. Higher fuel consumption by electricity generators during power shortages had increased demand for oil.
The government has estimated that the oil import bill will surge over $14.5 billion in the current fiscal year.
The sources said the government was under tremendous pressure regarding the soaring oil bill. Besides requesting different Islamic countries to grant extension in oil credit facility, the government is also taking energy conservation measures to curtail oil import. The measures include proposals for five working days in a week and the closure of petrol pumps one day a week. The conservation measures are expected to reduce oil consumption as well as the oil import bill.
They claimed that if Pakistan were denied extension in oil credit facility, it would get a $500 million grant from Saudi Arabia to ease the oil import burden on the budget. The Saudi government had already provided $300 million to Pakistan in the month of March to meet budgetary gaps and promote macro-economic stability in the country.
Pakistan imports around 110,000 barrels of oil per day. If the two countries agree on the extension in the oil credit facility, Pakistan will receive around 40 million barrels of oil in one year from Saudi Arabia, providing foreign exchange cushion of $6 billion.
The sources claimed that the oil credit facility would benefit the government more than a loan to bridge the deficit created by the high oil import bill. They said that former governments had not spent the loans to resolve the oil crisis, and had spent them on non-development projects.
Loan: They said the government had borrowed Rs 165 billion from local commercial banks to pay differential claims to oil marketing companies.
The sources said Pakistan is also negotiating with other countries including Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar to seek extension in oil credit facilities for importing oil on deferred payments.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\09\02\story_2-9-2008_pg7_1
By Zafar Bhutta
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan to wait for its final response regarding the Saudi Oil Facility (SOF) till the election of the new president of Pakistan, sources in the Petroleum Ministry told Daily Times on Monday.
The sources said Saudi Arabia did not give a final response to a delegation led by Finance Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also holds the charge of the Petroleum Ministry. Saudi Arabia said it was observing the current situation in Pakistan and would give a final response on the oil facility after the presidential election, they said.
The sources said that the Pakistani delegation placed two requests before the government of Saudi Arabia. One was to grant a one-year extension in the oil credit facility enabling Pakistan to import oil on deferred payments.
Import bill: The other request was for a grant to ease the financial burden on oil imports, as during the last financial year the import bill had exceeded $11 billion. Higher fuel consumption by electricity generators during power shortages had increased demand for oil.
The government has estimated that the oil import bill will surge over $14.5 billion in the current fiscal year.
The sources said the government was under tremendous pressure regarding the soaring oil bill. Besides requesting different Islamic countries to grant extension in oil credit facility, the government is also taking energy conservation measures to curtail oil import. The measures include proposals for five working days in a week and the closure of petrol pumps one day a week. The conservation measures are expected to reduce oil consumption as well as the oil import bill.
They claimed that if Pakistan were denied extension in oil credit facility, it would get a $500 million grant from Saudi Arabia to ease the oil import burden on the budget. The Saudi government had already provided $300 million to Pakistan in the month of March to meet budgetary gaps and promote macro-economic stability in the country.
Pakistan imports around 110,000 barrels of oil per day. If the two countries agree on the extension in the oil credit facility, Pakistan will receive around 40 million barrels of oil in one year from Saudi Arabia, providing foreign exchange cushion of $6 billion.
The sources claimed that the oil credit facility would benefit the government more than a loan to bridge the deficit created by the high oil import bill. They said that former governments had not spent the loans to resolve the oil crisis, and had spent them on non-development projects.
Loan: They said the government had borrowed Rs 165 billion from local commercial banks to pay differential claims to oil marketing companies.
The sources said Pakistan is also negotiating with other countries including Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar to seek extension in oil credit facilities for importing oil on deferred payments.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\09\02\story_2-9-2008_pg7_1