Pakistan, June 29 -- Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Sunday said that Pakistan was "considering" purchasing cheaper Iranian oil and gas.

The option of sourcing Iranian crude oil supplies has again become available to Pakistan after a temporary easing of US sanctions on Tehran. By availing this opportunity, Pakistan could source discounted crude and refine it locally to produce higher-value petroleum products.

Sourcing crude oil from Iran could generate import cost savings of $170-340 million for Pakistan, assuming it imports 10-20 per cent of its total petroleum requirement at a discount, including freight savings.

But, while industry experts say local refineries are technically capable of processing Iranian crude, commercial a...