Cnergyico, Pakistan’s largest refiner, is buying more US crude as the country seeks to diversify energy supplies after the Iran war exposed its dependence on Gulf shipping routes (Geo News).
The company imported about 8.1 million barrels of US crude over nine months, including 7.1 million barrels worth roughly $750 million in the fiscal year ended June, Vice Chairman Usama Qureshi told Reuters. It first bought US crude last year and is weighing spot purchases against longer-term contracts with Vitol and other suppliers on the basis of “pricing, reliability and supply security”.
The scale relative to national trade is striking. Pakistan’s payments for US imports rose by $914 million to $3.27 billion in that fiscal year, according to central bank data — meaning Cnergyico’s purchases alone account for about 80 per cent of the entire increase.
That points to the second motive. Pakistan wants to raise imports from the United States to narrow its trade surplus with Washington and secure reductions in the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Buying American crude does both jobs at once: it moves barrels away from a contested waterway and moves the bilateral trade balance in the direction Washington wants.
Qureshi said the refiner could increase purchases if Pakistan’s proposed EXIM Bank trade-finance facility were extended to it. Islamabad pitched the facility last month, which would let Pakistani buyers defer payments to US exporters for up to three years.
The logic has been reinforced this week. Only five vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and none on Sunday, and Brent has risen past $91 as Iran signals a “fully offensive” posture. Crude from the US Gulf Coast is a longer and costlier voyage, but it does not pass through Hormuz.
