Pakistan, almost entirely dependent on imports to cover its consumption of petroleum products, has long concentrated its crude purchases among Gulf suppliers, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This concentration exposes the country to a structural risk, as a share of its hydrocarbon imports transits through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage weakened by the escalation of the regional conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the American federal agency responsible for energy statistics, has documented disruptions to oil traffic in the strait since spring 2026, a situation still being reported as of August 2026. Against this backdrop, refiner Cnergyico Pk Limited has pursued a diversification of its crude supply toward US oil.
A diversification underway since summer 2025
Cnergyico, described as Pakistan’s largest privately held, vertically integrated refiner, operates the country’s only offshore oil terminal. The infrastructure, a Single Point Mooring (SPM) facility, allows large tankers to moor offshore without passing through a shallow-water port. The company started with test cargoes of US crude as early as summer 2025, before stepping up purchases under a framework agreement signed with trader Vitol. These light American crude grades, referred to as WTI and WTL for West Texas Intermediate and West Texas Light, now complement traditional supplies sourced from the Gulf.
Usama Qureshi, Vice Chairman of Cnergyico Pk Limited, has regularly commented on this purchasing strategy since at least August 2025, with no change identified in that role since then. According to the company, the diversification aims to reduce the refiner’s exposure to supply risks tied to the Strait of Hormuz. Published estimates of the exact share of Pakistani imports transiting through the strait vary considerably depending on the source and the scope considered, whether covering oil alone or oil combined with liquefied natural gas.
A commercial rebalancing between Islamabad and Washington
This diversification is part of the momentum generated by the trade agreement between Pakistan and the United States, which led to a reduction in US tariffs on Pakistani exports. Authorities in Islamabad present the agreement as a way to rebalance the bilateral trade balance with Washington. Ali Pervaiz Malik, Pakistan’s Minister of Petroleum, commented in May 2026 on the state of these imports, with no leadership change noted at the ministry since then.
Pakistani imports from the United States, across all product categories, recorded strong growth over the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which runs from July 2025 to June 2026. Analysts link this trend to US tariff measures and reciprocal trade arrangements encouraging Islamabad to purchase more American goods. The exact share represented by Cnergyico’s crude purchases within that total could not be independently established from the sources available.
Profitability weighed cargo by cargo
The cumulative volume of Cnergyico’s US crude purchases has progressively increased across successive cargoes, with the latest official confirmation available covering a total that predates the most recent period covered by this article. Rising freight costs and spot premiums applied to US crude have at times weighed on the profitability of these purchases compared with Gulf grades. This commercial factor explains why the company evaluates its cargoes on a month-by-month basis rather than committing to fixed long-term volumes. Cnergyico’s refinery modernization, meanwhile, aims to meet European Euro V and Euro VI fuel quality standards, a separate objective from the supply strategy but pursued in parallel by the group.