Govt seeks 15-year Saudi oil facility

Pakistan has sought to revive a $1.2 billion yearly oil deal on deferred payments from the Saudi Fund for Development. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb raised the subject with the fund's chief executive Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad on the margins of the World Bank and IMF meetings in Thailand, according to The Express Tribune. The finance ministry issued a readout but made no remark on the oil arrangement, while people close to the talks said Saudi Arabia was weighing the request.

According to the official handout, Aurangzeb cited Pakistan's stronger macroeconomic position and its return to international capital markets. Talks covered trade, investment, private-sector engagement, a bilateral investment protection agreement and possible refinery upgrades. The SFD said it would keep supporting Pakistan within its mandate, while both sides called progress on current projects satisfactory. Separately, Saudi Arabia extended $3 billion in short-term debt through the SFD and rolled it over for three months in July.

Pakistan now wants $6.7 billion in concessional oil financing from Saudi Arabia, spread over 15 years, after the February 2025 facility expired in April. The IMF has put annual gross financing needs for 2027-28 at nearly $30 billion, and the government wants long-term rollovers to reduce them. Crude imports rose 40% in July-August of this fiscal year, and the IMF's projected inflows for 2026-27 and 2027-28 exclude any Saudi oil facility.