EXCLUSIVE-Pakistan to get first U.S. oil shipment as Cnergyico seals import deal

By Ariba Shahid and Sudarshan Varadhan

KARACHI/SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan's largest refiner Cnergyico CNER.PSX will import 1 million barrels of oil from Vitol in October, its vice chairman Usama Qureshi told Reuters on Friday, marking the country's first-ever purchase of U.S. crude following a landmark trade deal.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude cargo will be loaded from Houston this month and is expected to arrive in Karachi the second half of October, Qureshi said.

"This is a test spot cargo under our umbrella term agreement with Vitol. If it is commercially viable and available, we could import at least one cargo per month," he told Reuters.

The deal follows months of multiple negotiations which first began in April, he said, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 29% tariffs on imports from Pakistan.