Islamabad announced on Monday that Pakistan is pursuing a strategy to broaden its energy portfolio and encourage increased foreign direct investment. The plan, outlined by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, focuses on establishing strategic petroleum reserves, bonded storage facilities, and enhancing domestic exploration and refining capabilities.
The nation remains heavily dependent on imported fuels, with the vast majority of crude oil and petroleum products originating in the Middle East. Recent hostilities involving the United States, Israel, and Iran have reignited anxieties among energy-dependent economies. Skirmishes in the Gulf have interrupted shipping lanes and heightened concerns regarding the security of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which approximately one-fifth of global oil and gas flows.
These escalating tensions have underscored the lack of a fully functional strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) in Pakistan, leaving the country vulnerable to external supply disruptions and abrupt price surges. While major economies typically maintain emergency stockpiles to buffer against geopolitical conflicts, sanctions, natural disasters, or trade route interruptions, Pakistan currently relies primarily on storage managed by private-sector importers.
Addressing a plenary session of the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Riyadh, Minister Malik stated that the global energy sector is entering a new investment phase where security, affordability, and sustainability must progress in tandem. He highlighted the need for capital allocation across renewables, hydrocarbons, critical minerals, and core infrastructure such as power grids and pipelines.
“The supply shock of 2026 has been unprecedented both in terms of its depth as well as its breadth. Today, Pakistan is not only trying to meet its immediate energy requirements but also revisit its entire energy security architecture,” the minister told an IEF plenary session titled “Investment and Trade in Sustainable Energy Solutions: Making Energy Clean, Accessible and Affordable.”
“Pakistan is endeavoring to build strategic reserves, roll out a world-class bonded reserve scheme on the safe shores that it has to offer with full tax neutrality and repatriation assured, push the indigenization agenda with upstream exploration both onshore and offshore, build critical infrastructure like refineries, tank farms.”
According to officials, Islamabad has been conducting consultations regarding the establishment of permanent petroleum product reserves. The country requires approximately $550 million worth of crude oil monthly, with estimated storage costs of around $300 million needed to maintain these strategic reserves.
Hosted by Saudi Arabia in partnership with Italy and Nigeria, the IEF convened senior officials from key energy-producing and consuming nations, along with executives from industry leaders such as Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP.
Malik emphasized that international investment and trade frameworks must strike a balance between innovation and sustainability while ensuring affordability, equity, and access.
“Through forums like IEF, we must ensure investment and trade frameworks strike the right balance between innovation incentives and imperative of affordable, sustainable energy equity and access,” the minister said.
“Pakistan looks forward to working with all IEF member countries to work on this shared responsibility of energy security.”
Outside the IEF sessions, Malik held extensive discussions with Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi to explore potential cooperation within the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, per the Pakistani petroleum ministry.
He also engaged with global energy leaders, reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to international cooperation, supply source diversification, resilient energy infrastructure, and investment in a secure, affordable, and sustainable energy future.
