Azerbaijan State Oil Company (Socar) has expressed frustration over Pakistan’s Petroleum Division’s prolonged silence over its offer of providing two credit lines of over USD 220 million for oil and gas supplies to Pakistan.

Informed sources told Dawn that Pakistan’s ambassador to Baku, Bilal Hayee, had alerted the government back home to deal with the matter in a manner that did not unnecessarily cast a shadow over close friendly relations between the two countries.

The two governments had agreed during a visit of Azerbaijan’s foreign minister to Pakistan in January to expand bilateral cooperation through oil and gas sector engagements to build upon a strategically friendly relationship between the two countries.

As a follow-up from Azerbaijan, Socar Trading — a commercial arm of State Oil Company of Azerbaijanc — formally offered in March to supply petroleum products and LNG cargos to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) round the year on credit under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement.

The offer involved two separate credit lines of USD 120 million for LNG and USD 100 million for petroleum products for 60 days, according to Ambassador Hayee who said that Chief Operating Officer of Socar Toghrul Kocharli had approached him to inquire about the Pakistan government’s response to the comprehensive proposal made by Socar. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Power Tabish Gohar did not respond to calls for comment.

According to a diplomatic note, Kocharli had expressed “frustration on the prolonged silence and lack of response from the Petroleum Division”.

Ambassador Hayee informed the government that one of the closest friends, Azerbaijan, had a lot of goodwill and respect for Pakistan and several initiatives were currently underway to intensify and expand bilateral economic engagements. The two countries have been supporting their respective positions on issues of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh at all international forums.

Therefore, he desired the petroleum division to engage with Socar to find a mutually workable arrangement for the supply of LNG and petroleum products in line with national priority and needs.

Azerbaijan is a major producer of oil and gas and operates several oil and chemical refineries in many countries. The two sides had entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) in February 2017 for the supply of some oil and gas products, including furnace oil, petrol, diesel and liquefied natural gas.

(SAM)