PSO imports 367,919,495MMBTUliquefied natural gas from Qatar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has so far imported around 367,919,495MMBTU of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the country’s growing energy needs, sources said on Wednesday.

The commodity is being imported from Qatar under the government-to-government arrangement. However, the PSO has also received LNG from different sources, including Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Spain, Equatorial Guinea, Australia, Trinidad and The Netherlands through competitive bidding, the sources told APP.

As per the Article 3.1 (d) of LNG Policy 2011, no licence was required for import of the LNG, they said, adding that the licence is mandatory for marketing, filling, transportation and distribution of LNG under the provision of LNG Rules 2007 of OGRA.

At present, five cargoes carrying around 140,000 cubic metres LNG, which translated into 500 million cubic feet/day (mmcfd) gas, were being imported from Qatar on a monthly basis, the sources said.

"This, on an annual basis, is around 3.75 million tons/annum (MTPA), whereas another 0.75MTPA LNG is imported through term tender arrangement, which is not origin specific. Thus, a total of 4.5MTPA LNG is being imported in the country," they said.

PSO signed a 15-year agreement with Qatar gas company in February 2016, under the government-to-government arrangement. The deal is giving an impetus to the economic activities in the country.

"The country had no other option, but to import gas whether it is LNG or through Iran-Pakistan and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-India gas pipeline projects as the country's existing reserves are depleting and there is no major find since long," the sources said.

They expressed confidence the LNG import would prove to be a game-changer for Pakistan because it was considered an essential part of the energy mix needs of the emerging economies.

The world is turning towards LNG and emerging economies such as China, Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, European Union, and Brazil ensure that LNG remains part of their energy mix requirements.

Japan is importing around 80 million tons of LNG every year and India 15MTPA due to the commodity's low price and efficiency as compared to other fuels. Pakistan's gas supply-demand gap has reached four billion cubic feet/day (BCFD) as total unconstrained gas demand of the country is 8BCFD against the total supply of 4BCFD.

The sources said LNG is the cheapest alternative fuel and the only instant available remedy to meet the country's energy needs when the existing natural gas reserves are diminishing. The LNG greatly helped meet the country's energy requirements, as all gas-based power generation plants are now functioning fully, over 1,200 CNG stations restarted their operations, industrial and fertiliser sectors are getting uninterrupted power supply.

Before LNG import, the sources said, Pakistan was importing up to two million tonnes of urea fertiliser to meet the deficit due to shortage of gas and now it is exporting over 700,000 tonnes of fertiliser and entire power generation sector is getting uninterrupted gas supply.

Pakistan is building deeper relations with several countries through oil and gas deals on a government-to-government basis after the successful model of oil imports from Kuwait, and, in this context, LNG import deals with various countries, including China, Turkey, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Oman are being negotiated, the sources added.