ISLAMABAD – The government has decided to settle the issue of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports within the current month, Pakistan Today has learnt.
If the present proposal of awarding tender to the already selected bidder for short term supplies was not approved, a fresh bidding process would be initiated immediately, official sources told the paper.
It has been decided that if the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet failed to evolve a consensus on the proposal of the Petroleum Ministry in its next meeting, the allotted quota of LNG from the bidder would be offered to the private sector to give impetus to LNG imports, they said.
The government has already acceded to the demands of the five major independent power producers of Punjab to allow them to import LNG and utilise the transmission network of state owned gas utility companies for the supplies from the seaport to power stations in the province.
French company GDF Suez was selected for short term supplies that had given a deadline of November 30 to finalise the deal.
In a related development, Dutch LNG terminal operator 4Gas’ chief operating officer, Joost Droge, will be holding talks with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani on LNG imports today (Thursday).
He will also meet the petroleum minister and other senior officials, sources said.
The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited, with the endorsement of the Ministry of Petroleum, had issued a letter of exclusivity to 4Gas for the construction of Pakistan Mashal LNG Project in December 2008. The planned Mashal LNG import terminal would be located at Port Qasim, Karachi and would have an initial import capacity of 3.5 million tons per year equivalent to 500 MCFD of natural gas, with expansion capability of up to 7 Mt per year.
