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| India-Pakistan |
| Pak delegation to visit Kuwait, UAE, S Arabia for free oil |
| 2008-01-18 |
| ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani delegation will visit Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia to seek uninterrupted oil imports on deferred payments, and reduced rates for public sector consumers to counter the current energy crisis. A five-member delegation will leave on a week-long visit to the three Arab countries on Saturday, sources in the Petroleum Ministry told the Kuwait News Agency on Thursday. Sources said the delegation would also seek the revival of a special Saudi Oil Facility, under which Pakistan was provided free oil after nuclear tests in 1998, that later became a credit facility. According to oil companies, PakistanÂ’s oil reserves plummeted to the lowest level early in January because of the fall in stocks and non-payment of price differential claims by the government that exceeded $40 billion last month. The government expects the oil import bill to reach $11 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, almost 40 percent more than last yearÂ’s $7.9 billion. It estimates an extra burden of nearly Rs 100 billion on the budget as a result of skyrocketing oil prices in the international market, which was not passed on to consumers |
| Posted by:john frum |