Pakistan could save up to $340 million on oil imports if Iran sanctions lifted — report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan could save between $280 million and $340 million annually on crude oil imports if international sanctions on Iran are lifted, according to a research report published this week.

Pakistan and Iran plan to raise their bilateral trade to $10 billion from the existing around $3 billion, with both sides last year signing 12 agreements and memorandums of understanding for cooperation in diverse fields.

But the Pakistani foreign office said on Wednesday that progress on Pakistan’s economic projects with Iran will hinge on the pace at which sanctions against Tehran are lifted, following the United States-Iran peace deal.

“Assuming Iran continues to offer competitive pricing to regain market share following the easing of sanctions, sourcing crude oil from Iran could potentially generate import cost savings of up to $170-340mn for Pakistan based on the assumption that Pakistan sources 10-20 percent of its total petroleum requirement with a discount of 10 percent, which also includes savings on freight costs,” Karachi-based Topline Securities said in its report on Thursday.

Pakistan imported nearly $17 billion worth of petroleum products and fuels in 2025.

The country imported Iranian crude at a discounted realized price ranging between 13-17 percent on average from 2009 till 2012, before several Iranian banks were disconnected from SWIFT after the European Union sanctions on its oil and petrochemicals, according to the report.

Iranian Light and Iranian Heavy crude grades are still priced at 2-3 percent discounts.

But Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters the progress on “economic projects and opening up of Iran for economic and trade relations across the world will take place simultaneously with the relief of sanctions.”

“Till such time that the sanctions are relieved, the progress on these projects will hinge on the pace of the relief of sanctions,” he said, a day after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Pakistan. “It is important to match the two.”