ISLAMABAD – The United States has told Islamabad to follow the Group of Seven (G7) price cap to get the best price deal for the import of Russian crude oil.
Washington also reiterated its pledges to bilateral energy cooperation under the ‘Green Alliance’ framework.
State Department Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt visited Pakistan accompanied by a multiple-agency delegation to signal the US commitment to a very strong partnership and also to reflect on the important transitional moment that has arrived.
In an interview, he supported Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) pipeline and the Central Asia-South Asia (Casa) projects as part of international diplomacy. Pyatt called these projects part of American diplomacy to connect regions, saying they will not give up on these projects despite the plights after the Taliban seized Kabul.
He pointed out two key transitions emerging in global energy. One’s Moscow, which according to him was the largest oil and gas explorer had weaponised oil and gas against Europe. He warned about the cost of the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin would never consider to be a reliable energy supplier amid violent actions, for several enegy seeking countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, he added.
He stressed Pakistan to hold talks with Russia to salvage the best price, stressing, calling it a good time for South Asian nation to get the best price that they possibly can.
Sharing the rationale, Mr. Pyatt said the main purpose is to limit the resources that Moscow gets from its oil and gas, which according to him were going directly to fund the war; and secondly, to avoid further disruption of supplies in the international market.
