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Thursday March 28, 2024

Pakistan’s second LNG terminal to start producing 600mmcfd RLNG from 20th

By Khalid Mustafa
November 06, 2017

KARACHI: Seeing is believing! It was quite amazing to cruise into the sea by almost over one kilometre from Fotco terminal and reach the Mazhar Point in LNG specific zone of Port Qasim. Watching with open eyes the Pakistan’s second LNG terminal built with the cost of almost $200 million from scratches having extreme end-to-end 402 meters long jetty with huge sprawling of mangroves in its background was not less than a dream.

Equipped with modern facilities, the LNG terminal built by Pakistan GasPort Consortium (PGPC) was being given the final touches to get it ready by November 20, 2017 for injecting the re-gasified LNG into the system. The terminal will re-gasify 600 mmcfd LNG for power plants of 3,600MW installed in Punjab helping to end power outages at the maximum.

The facilities that include platform with fenders to front jetty, marine loading arms designed for handling even the Q Max (LNG carrier from Qatar having 275,000 tons of LNG), firefighting system with capacity to get operational in 10 milliseconds in case of fire eruption, CCTV cameras to monitor all the activities in the terminal and electrical pullenger type SmartMoor Quick Release Hooks system make the terminal illustrious, young project engineers Tajamul Ali Wahid and Muzaffar Ahmad told The News at the newly built terminal. All the 15 functions by the Chinese company have been handed over to the main control room which is also part of the LNG terminal. They said that this terminal's availability will be 96 percent in 365 days for 15 years and it will normally handle Q-flex (LNG carrier from Qatar having 215,000 tons of LNG).

Muzaffar Ahmad, who remained part of the project from the very outset, told that the LNG terminal will be having the installed capacity to handle and re-gasify the 750 mmcfd LNG. However, it will be having the live capacity of 690 mmcfd out of which the government has extended to the terminal management the off take guarantee of 600 mmcfd LNG and the remaining 90 mmcfd LNG will be provided to the private party and to this effect, the top management is in talks with various parties that include K-Electric, CNG Association (Sindh chapter) and some industrialists.

He also explained while pointing towards the specific machine working on the site that this is the horizontal directional drilling facility (HDD) that has been used for laying down six meters beneath the sea bed that is 15 meters below from sea surface, over 1 kilometre pipeline from the LNG terminal site up to Fotco terminal from where it appears on the surface and goes to the tie-in site (delivery point) situated 14 kilometres away from Fotco terminal.

At the delivery point, the re-gasified imported product will be made at par with the specifications of the system gas prior to injecting it to the gas networksystem of the country. Out of 14 kilometres pipeline, it travels four kilometres distance along with the trestle of Fotco facility. This means the 15 kilometres long pipeline with 30 inches diameter has been laid down.

Pakistan will be having the first ever brand new FSRU (floating storage and re-gasification unit) constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries at the LNG terminal established by the PGPC. The government will be having 600 mmcfd re-gasified LNG from this terminal under the off-take guarantee under a 15-year contract at a tariff of $0.4177 per mmbtu. The tariff of 41.77 cents per mmbtu is the lowest in the region. The LNG terminal set up by Engro is charging the tariff of 66 cents per mmbtu. The FSRU, owned by the BW Group, is already stationed in Pakistani waters but away from the main channel and will be docked with second LNG terminal between 13-14 November.

Zohair Siddiqui, Managing Director of the company dealing with the terminal, said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will inaugurate the project on November 20 and the terminal will start injecting 600 mmcfd RLNG in the system the same day. This is the first LNG terminal set up by PGPC and under the agreement, the government is bound to provide LNG supply to the terminal and take off the re-gasified LNG of 600 mmcfd from the terminal. In addition, he said, the premier will also lay down the foundation stone of another LNG terminal to be established by PGPC at the same site with the installed capacity to re-gasify 750 mmcfd LNG, but this terminal will purely be established under private-to-private mode.

Through the said terminal, he explained, private parties will be provided the RLNG and the private party or LNG terminal company itself will arrange the LNG on its own. There will be no role of the government in the second LNG terminal to be established by Pakistan GasPort Consortium.