SNGPL plans RLNG pipeline

KARACHI: The board of directors of Sui Northern Pipelines (SNGPL) has conceptually approved Rs110.5 billion for developing an additional 1,200mmcfd capacity pipeline for the transportation of re-gasified liquid natural gas (RLNG) supply from Sawan to Lahore, a bourse filing said on Thursday.

The government has decided to import additional 1,200mmcfd LNG for the upcoming LNG terminals in the country, keeping in view the diminishing indigenous gas supply for meeting the increasing demand of all sectors.

Total cost of the SNGPL proposed project is estimated at Rs110.5 billion, and it is expected to be completed in October 2018. The project has been conceptually approved by the board of directors subject to the approval of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and arrangement of financing through long term loan from the federal government or through commercial borrowing backed by sovereign guarantee, including waiver of existing loan covenants from concerned quarters.

Pakistan has ploughed billions of dollars into LNG infrastructure, including construction of a second LNG import terminal and pipelines linking the port city of Karachi with Lahore in the Punjab region, the nation's industrial heartland.

The country has been earmarked as an up-and-coming demand outlet for the oversupplied LNG market. Qatar, which signed two term supply contracts with Pakistan this year, is the country's largest LNG supplier. Pakistan is heavily reliant on expensive furnace oil imports to plug energy shortfalls, and officials expect the LNG imports to lower the cost of energy.