Indian diesel banned in Pakistan
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has doggedly refused to remove motor fuels from the list of items that cannot be imported from India to avoid giving New Delhi a leverage over its energy supplies.
Government officials said Indian refiners may be willing but cannot export diesel or petrol to Pakistan unless Islamabad takes these off its 'Negative List'. They said there was no formal proposal but did not rule out the issue resurfacing during the forthcoming commerce secretary-level talks between the two countries.
"It (talks) are going to be unstructured. Any side can broach any topic. They had promised to open doors to Indian fuels in 2004 but nothing has happened. The reason is Kuwait offers large discounts and soft payment terms," one commerce ministry official said.
The idea of exporting diesel was first mooted by flagship refiner-marketer IndianOil Corporation in 2002-03. The plan gathered momentum after Pakistan's then energy secretary, Abdullah Yusuf, said during his Delhi visit in January 2004 it made economic sense for his country to import fuels from India.
Ysusf's reason was based on the fact that the Pakistan had to wheel fuels to Multan area over some distance as there was no refinery in the region. Indian exports through Punjab, thus, appeared as a solution. That template may have changed with a new refinery in Multan.
IndianOil had appointed an agent in Pakistan for fuels and petrochems business. It proposed to sell one million tonne of diesel from its Jalandhar depot by rail-tankers. It was willing to raise the quantity to 4 million tonne and eventually set up a pipeline.
Private sector Reliance Industries too was exploring the prospect of shipping fuels from its Jamnagar refinery to Karachi. IndianOil had even priced its diesel some 60 cents a barrel cheaper than Kuwaiti supplies. But Islamabad refused to budge.
Oil industry executives raised doubts over the viability of exporting diesel to Pakistan. "Their national oil company is nearly bankrupt. An Indian exporter may face payments risks," one executive said.
What may still change the situation is the fact that India is now signatory to two transnational gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan -- through Pakistan territory. In 2004, Pakistan had set the condition that India accepts Pak transit for these pipelines before allowing diesel from India to flow.
Indian diesel banned in Pakistan - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has doggedly refused to remove motor fuels from the list of items that cannot be imported from India to avoid giving New Delhi a leverage over its energy supplies.
Government officials said Indian refiners may be willing but cannot export diesel or petrol to Pakistan unless Islamabad takes these off its 'Negative List'. They said there was no formal proposal but did not rule out the issue resurfacing during the forthcoming commerce secretary-level talks between the two countries.
"It (talks) are going to be unstructured. Any side can broach any topic. They had promised to open doors to Indian fuels in 2004 but nothing has happened. The reason is Kuwait offers large discounts and soft payment terms," one commerce ministry official said.
The idea of exporting diesel was first mooted by flagship refiner-marketer IndianOil Corporation in 2002-03. The plan gathered momentum after Pakistan's then energy secretary, Abdullah Yusuf, said during his Delhi visit in January 2004 it made economic sense for his country to import fuels from India.
Ysusf's reason was based on the fact that the Pakistan had to wheel fuels to Multan area over some distance as there was no refinery in the region. Indian exports through Punjab, thus, appeared as a solution. That template may have changed with a new refinery in Multan.
IndianOil had appointed an agent in Pakistan for fuels and petrochems business. It proposed to sell one million tonne of diesel from its Jalandhar depot by rail-tankers. It was willing to raise the quantity to 4 million tonne and eventually set up a pipeline.
Private sector Reliance Industries too was exploring the prospect of shipping fuels from its Jamnagar refinery to Karachi. IndianOil had even priced its diesel some 60 cents a barrel cheaper than Kuwaiti supplies. But Islamabad refused to budge.
Oil industry executives raised doubts over the viability of exporting diesel to Pakistan. "Their national oil company is nearly bankrupt. An Indian exporter may face payments risks," one executive said.
What may still change the situation is the fact that India is now signatory to two transnational gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan -- through Pakistan territory. In 2004, Pakistan had set the condition that India accepts Pak transit for these pipelines before allowing diesel from India to flow.
Indian diesel banned in Pakistan - The Times of India
