Pakistan makes first US crude imports as energy ties expand

Pakistan has imported 6mn barrels of crude oil from the US for the first time in the current fiscal year, in a move that highlights a gradual widening of energy links between Islamabad and Washington.

The shipments, delivered between October 2025 and May 2026, were handled by Cnergyico Pk, Pakistan’s largest oil refiner, petroleum minister Ali Pervaiz Malik has said.

According to ARAB NEWS, the crude was sourced as part of a commercial arrangement struck in January for US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil. The deal covered 6mn barrels, valued at roughly $430mn. At the time, Cnergyico said it had already received 3mn barrels, with the remaining volumes scheduled to arrive in February and March through its offshore Single Point Mooring facility.

However, an unnamed petroleum ministry official later said the full cargo had been delivered over a wider window, “somewhere around Oct. 25 to May 2026”, reflecting a number of staggered arrivals across the fiscal period.

The development was disclosed during talks in Islamabad between Malik and S. Paul Kapoor, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, who was visiting Pakistan for discussions on bilateral energy cooperation. The report states that the meeting was also attended by US chargé d’affaires Natalie Baker.

Both sides discussed opportunities to expand engagement in the petroleum sector, with a focus on trade, investment and infrastructure development.

Malik told the US delegation that this was the first time Pakistan had imported crude oil from the US at this scale. “For the first time, Pakistan has imported 6mn barrels of crude oil from the United States,” he is reported as saying, according to a statement from the petroleum ministry.

He went on to outline a broader set of reforms underway in Pakistan’s energy sector. These are aimed at reducing inefficiencies, increasing reliance on domestic resources and improving the overall investment climate for foreign companies.

Pakistan is under sustained pressure to strengthen its external accounts and improve energy security. Because of this, officials see diversification of oil import sources as part of that strategy, alongside efforts to expand domestic exploration and production.

Malik also highlighted areas where cooperation with the US could deepen further. These included port infrastructure, oil storage facilities and upgrades to domestic refineries. He said that there was also scope for joint work in oil and gas exploration, as well as in the minerals sector, which Islamabad has been attempting to develop as a new source of foreign investment.

Kapoor, for his part, said the recent improvement in bilateral relations could be turned into a stronger economic partnership. “Pakistan and the United States have always been important to each other,” he added, according to the ministry.