Pakistan has been planning to boost domestic storage for crude oil and refined products to increase its energy security, it emerged in May. With no strategic petroleum reserves, the country has been left exposed to oil supply shocks resulting from the US-Iran war that has choked supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore today, Malik said: “I am grateful to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar that we will have a bonded scheme with them, under which these countries will store their oil on the secure territories of Pakistan at their own cost, and supply to the entire world from here.”

He added that Pakistan will have the right that in the case of a conflict, it could “buy those resources from them by paying for them and fulfil our needs”.

The minister said the “commercial bonded scheme drafted with the help of Aramco and other major companies” has been forwarded to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) upon the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“When, God-willing, a decision is made on it next week, you will see the progress,” he added, asserting that Pakistan’s energy needs will be fulfilled “without spending money and despite a lack of resources”.

The US-Israel war on Iran has caused oil supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blockaded, leading to unprecedented hikes in petroleum prices.

The minister said the government was committed to strengthening energy security. He noted that $500 million were required for storing crude oil reserves for one month, in addition to $300-400m needed for an underground storage system.

He said the government would later debate whether the country could invest this amount, adding that the leadership would work on it in the upcoming months.

Highlighting Pakistan’s energy challenges, Malik said the country imported around 90 per cent of its energy requirements, while domestic oil production stood at approximately 70,000 barrels per day against a daily demand of around 500,000 barrels.

He stressed the need to accelerate indigenous oil and gas exploration to reduce reliance on imports.

He said the prime minister and the field marshal had tasked a leading international company with preparing a comprehensive roadmap for the country’s energy sector, which would be presented to the national leadership in the coming months.

Malik also said Turkiye’s Turkish Petroleum would soon commence offshore drilling operations in Pakistan’s territorial waters, paving the way for significant foreign investment in the energy sector.

He announced that tenders for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would open on Monday and said the government had made arrangements to issue new gas connections to facilitate consumers.

Speaking on international developments, Malik said that despite economic pressures from the US-Iran war, the government ensured uninterrupted fuel supplies across the country and made “every effort” to protect consumers from the full impact of rising global prices.

The minister said the government remained committed to providing maximum relief to the public despite limited financial resources.

He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had introduced a transparent petroleum pricing mechanism, with all pricing calculations available on the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) website.

Since mid-July, the government has been revising fuel prices on a near-daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices as hostilities between the US and Iran renewed. Before that, petroleum prices were revised weekly since the war began, alongside measures for conserving fuel.

Recalling that the federal cabinet had approved a refinery policy last month, Malik affirmed that the government was resolving long-standing financial issues facing the petroleum sector.

He added that the flow of circular debt had been halted and efforts were underway to clear outstanding liabilities inherited from previous administrations.

After more than a week of gradually escalating criticism of the plan, Netanyahu explicitly opposed it as he faced pushback from his right-wing base ahead of elections.

“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said, referring to a plan endorsed in late July by Hamas.

The Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens”, Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.

The document, the latest stage in a US-led ceasefire announced in October that has reduced but not ended Israeli operations in Gaza, said Hamas would surrender weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing body.

The plan said Israel would begin pulling out forces in tandem with the disarmament, an idea adamantly rejected by Israel, which also wants Hamas to destroy its weapons.

After meeting Netanyahu last week, Trump’s body implementing the deal, dubbed the Board of Peace, backtracked and said Israel would only need to withdraw after “complete” disarmament.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, who according to polls is in a tight race to stay in power, has faced calls from his far-right allies to hold a new cabinet vote and end the Gaza plan.

Netanyahu said that Israel was speaking with the United States about its objections.

“They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters,” he said.

Netanyahu said that Hamas must give up all of its weapons, a goal that Board of Peace members say is not realistically achievable.

“We are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament,” Netanyahu said.

The group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Houthis had “succeeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a drone”.

He claimed the attack on the facility operated by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil firm was launched in response to incursions by drones from the Gulf monarchy into northwest Yemen.

A years-long truce in Yemen’s civil war between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government appeared to collapse last month as fighting between regional allies of the United States and Iran flared.

Later, Saree said the Houthis on Sunday targeted “Saudi enemy” troops and equipment in the area of Yemen’s Red Sea coastal city of Mokha with missiles and drones.

Two military sources with the internationally recognised, Aden-based government confirmed the Houthis attacked Mokha with missiles and drones.

One of the two military sources said the Houthis also targeted pro-government forces and installations outside Mokha and sites on islands near the Bab al-Mandeb, the shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

The same military source said some locations targeted by Houthis housed Saudi troops, but no casualties had been reported among military personnel from the Gulf kingdom.

Residents in government-controlled Mokha confirmed to AFP they heard blasts in the area, with one saying they “heard explosions from drones and air defences over the port and city”.

Another resident said they heard “six consecutive explosions” in the port.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said civil response teams had brought under control a fire at the Jazan refinery, without giving the cause of the blaze.

“Saudi Aramco’s industrial security firefighting teams extinguished a fire that broke out at dawn today, Sunday, at one of the facilities belonging to the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan, without any injuries,” the ministry said.

The facility was also targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in July. Aramco had shut down the refinery as the attack damaged the plant’s Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area, according to a note from consultancy IIR seen by Reuters.

The Jazan refinery processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces refined products including gasoline and ultra-light sulfur diesel.

Aramco chief Amin Nasser said last week that recent attacks on the company’s facilities had caused some production interruptions but that he was confident operations could be restored quickly. He said the attacks had no material operational or financial impact.

The Houthis control vast swathes of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and areas on the border with Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea provinces.

The Yemeni threat to shipping and Saudi oil facilities comes in parallel with Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has become the central flashpoint between Tehran and Washington amid efforts to end the Middle East war begun by the US and Israel in February.

In July, the Houthis had announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, hitting Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.

Pakistan had condemned the Houthis’ threats to Saudi Arabia and to trading with the kingdom via the Red Sea. It also warned that it had the right to self-defence if its “maritime interests” were targeted in “any hostile act”.

Last week, Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for a multinational maritime defence coalition to protect shipping and energy supply routes in the Red Sea. Fourteen countries, including Pakistan, have voiced support for the coalition.

On Friday, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed a joint defence agreement under which an attack against one of them would be treated as an attack against all of them.

The Honour 25 — a Palau-flagged oil tanker carrying 17 to 19 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis — was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia on April 21. Despite over three months passing, there has been no progress either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for the recovery of the hostages, despite concerns abounding about their declining health.

In two video messages seen by Dawn, the Pakistani hostages and foreigners can be seen in a state of extreme distress, with most looking sick and weak.

They requested that the Pakistani government talk to the Somali pirates and take steps to release them.

Yasir Khan, a hostage aboard the ship, said that many of the crew members had fallen ill and had no access to medicine.

He appealed to the government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry to secure their release “before it is too late” and before they suffered more.

He also appealed to Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to “please do something for us”, noting he had already made many efforts in this regard.

Hussain Yousuf, another Pakistani hostage, said, “More than a hundred days have passed and still nothing is known about what is happening to us, or what will happen to us.”

He requested the prime minister, as well as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, to take action before “very bad news” arrived.

Speaking to Dawn on Sunday, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi expressed his grief and regret that the hostages had not yet been released.

He said that an inter-ministerial process was underway on the issue, involving the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and other relevant agencies, who were all continuously monitoring the situation.

“The main challenge is that these individuals are being held in an autonomous region of Somalia,” Andrabi said.

“The operational steps required to secure their release are particularly complex and difficult. The process of negotiating with their captors is also a major challenge.”

He noted that the situation was further complicated by the tribal system and various influential figures in Somali society, among whom were the pirates also involved in kidnapping the crew of the Honour 25.

“However, we hope for a better outcome,” he added, highlighting that Pakistan was in “constant contact” with Somalia’s government, authorities and relevant international organisations.

The FO spokesperson expressed his sympathy for the families and loved ones of the hostages, saying the government understood their pain and concern.

“This matter remains a priority and under our constant monitoring,” Andrabi said, adding that “all possible efforts” were being made to ensure the early repatriation and release of the hostages with the cooperation of relevant ministries and agencies.

Besides the 10 Pakistani crew members, the hostages also include seven Indonesians, including the captain, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan.

Since the hijacking, the crew has made several emotional videos and audio appeals, while reporting that they have run out of clean water, food and medicine.

The Pakistani hostages are victims of an “ownership crisis”, as it is not clearly established who owns the ship and the man previously thought to be an owner was later revealed to be more likely a middleman who hired them.

Earlier, under the supervision of the Somali pirates, there were several videos and phone calls to the families of the hostages to pressure them to pay the ransom. But after mid-June, the messages had stopped, until Saturday’s latest appeal.