Pakistan diverts 6 more LNG cargoes to international spot market

ISLAMABAD: In a big development, the government has diverted to the international spot market 6 more LNG cargoes which were due in July, August, September, October, November and December, each from ENI -- an Italian company under which PLL is bound to import one LNG cargo per month under the 15-year agreement, a senior official at the Ministry of Energy told The News.

“The government has managed to divert 6 more LNG cargoes to the international market. The total diverted cargoes till December 2025 from ENI are expected to reach 11 in number,” the spokesman of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company (SNGPL) confirmed to The News.

However, after the diversion of one LNG cargo to the global market every month, there has been no respite yet in the line pack gas pressure since February 2025 despite some dips. The line pack is still on the higher side of over 5 billion cubic feet (BCF) putting the national gas transmission network in jeopardy. The line pack pressure, as of Saturday (May 24, 2025), according to the latest gas pressure data, is at 5.167 bcf. The 5bcf is the danger mark.

Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL), earlier, diverted 5 LNG cargoes to the international market which were due to arrive in February, March, April, May and June each in the current calendar year of 2025. “This is being done because of the demand that SNGPL placed in its letter written on January 21, 2025, to the federal government seeking to divert 11-term LNG cargoes to the international market. The Power Division has refused to increase the use of RLNG for power generation even during June, July and August, the peak summer season.”