Who imported the first LNG ship from Qatar?

ISLAMABAD: The mystery is growing as to who imported the first LNG ship which has now docked at the new Karachi LNG terminal and who paid $30 million to Qatar even before a price agreement has been inked between the two countries.
It has been officially confirmed that $30 million was paid by PSO for the first shipment and the price is $8 per MMBTU.But, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi made a statement on Thursday evening claiming that PSO had not imported this ship and two private sector companies had made the payment for the shipment. He named these companies as Universal Gas Distribution Company Private Limited and Pak-Arab Fertiliser and the LNG would be consumed by these two companies.
A senior official, however, confirmed that the Bill of Lading of the 147,800 cubic metres of LNG on vessel named “Exquisite” was in the name of PSO and PSO had made the payment to Qatar.When top officials of the Finance Ministry were confronted with this detail, they came out with a confusing and suspicious explanation.
“These two companies had privately paid PSO to facilitate the import of LNG from Qatar as these companies themselves had no experience and know how of how to do it,” a senior official explained.
So technically, PSO was the importer but the shipment is meant for these two companies and since it was for the private sector, the question of an agreement with Qatar Government did not matter, the official explained.
The questions being raised in many circles are how come such big companies like Pak-Arab Fertiliser have no expertise in importing their raw material and gave millions of dollars to PSO for facilitating this purchase. Also, why was the private sector only interested in importing from Qatar, if they had the permission and legal authority to import from any where in the world at the best price?
Finance Ministry sources also said two international consulting companies, QED of UK and Fact Global Energy of World Bank, had advised the government not to sign long-term contracts of 15 years supply but go for short-term 3 to 5 year contracts.
But, Khaqan Abbasi said on Thursday a contract with Qatar would be signed on April 1 and the first official shipment of PSO would arrive around April 15.Private sector experts say, in the market, LNG was available at around $12 per MMBTU on long-term basis but in the short-term, the rate was $8. The Government is thinking of a rate much higher than eight dollars.