PAK to mull over kicking out petro-products & LAB from negative list

07 Jun '05

2 min read

Pakistan has assured India to consider its request of removing petroleum products, particularly diesel and linear alkyl benzene (LAB), from the negative list at its next review committee meeting.

Talking to mediapersons, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said, ''Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has conveyed to me that they (Pakistan) will consider the request at the next meeting.''

He informed that Petroleum Secretary S C Tripathi has made a formal request today to Pakistan Petroleum Secretary Ahmed Waqar to remove diesel and LAB imports from India from the negative list.
Meanwhile, the proposed meeting between Aiyar and Pakistan commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar was called off as Akhtar was out of station.

State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has offered to sell 325,000 tonnes of diesel to Pakistan during October 2005 and March 2006 below the current landed price.

According to an IOC official, the diesel will be sent via Wagah border and other two locations at a rate which works out to be ''cheaper'' than imports from Kuwait.

Pakistan, which imports 2.5 million tonnes of diesel from Kuwait per annum, does not have any refinery in Lahore-Multan area.

It receives products either from inland refineries or from Karachi (imported products) by rail or road.

While the diesel shipment for Karachi would be sourced from Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery, IOC plans to pipe diesel from Panipat refinery to Jalandhar from where it plans to move it by road/rail to Lahore.
har from where it plans to move it by road/rail to Lahore.

The expansion of Panipat refinery will be completed by the end of this year.

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