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Friday March 29, 2024

Engro Elengy Terminal’s ship handling capacity doubled

By Munawar Hasan
May 03, 2016

Gas injection at 77bcf

LAHORE: The ship handling capacity of Engro Elengy Terminal Limited (EETL), the country’s first and only liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal located at the Port Qasim, has been doubled to increase the volume of gas injection into the system, said its official. 

“EETL is receiving four cargoes a month as per the current annual delivery plan against an earlier contractual obligation of handling two ships a month,” said terminal manager Amir Mahmud, talking to journalists visiting the site.

Mahmud said a total of five LNG cargoes have berthed at the terminal during the last month with the start of the second year of its operation. Till March 28, he said, 24 ships were handled at the terminal and regasified LNG was pumped into the Sui Southern Gas Company’s system to be further dispatched to various sectors of economy. . 

He said the terminal received LNG cargoes from Qatar, Australia, Nigeria and Spain.

The terminal has so far injected more than 77 billion cubic feet of gas into the distribution network by converting approximately 1.7 million tons of imported LNG. Under the first year of its contractual obligation, the terminal handled 1.5 million tons of LNG. 

The terminal’s executive said owing to continuous supply of LNG into the system, gas-based power plants are getting 250 million metric cubic feet/day (mmscfd), fertiliser plants (80 mmscfd), compressed natural gas sector (35 mmscfd) and textile industry is receiving 35 mmscfd. 

He said most of the LNG has been utilised to run gas-based independent power producers, which were either sitting idle due to non-availability of gas or burning the most expensive form of fuel (diesel). 

Mahmud said RLNG is cheaper than alternate fuels as well as cleaner and environment-friendly.

It has higher efficiency in the power generation sector. Domestic RLNG price stands at $6.74/million metric British thermal unit (MMBtu) as compared to liquefied petroleum gas ($15.13/MMBtu), high sulfur furnace oil ($8.05/MMBtu),
high speed diesel ($17.7/MMBtu) and motor gasoline ($18.23/MMBtu).

Currently, Pakistan has a gas shortfall of two billion cubic feet per day. 

Engro is one of the 15 companies in the world operating an advanced terminal storage and re-gasification technology. 

Mahmud said the LNG project is a game changer for Pakistan and will save the country more than one billion dollars a year after replacing expensive alternative fuels. The terminal will generate around 2,000 megawatts of electricity, he added.

“The step to set up the LNG import infrastructure is in the right direction and the country needs another three to four LNG import terminals to curtail the ongoing energy crisis,” he said. 

In Pakistan, natural gas accounts for 35 percent of all power generation. Industrial sector consumes 23.8 percent of the local gas supply. Gas consumption of fertiliser sector stands at 15.6 percent. It is 5.4 percent in compressed natural gas sector, while households consume 18.1 percent of all gas supply.

EETL executive said LNG remains an integral part of energy mix in China, Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, European Union and Brazil.