Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that five more liquified natural gas (LNG) import agreements would be signed with Qatar.
Talking to Voice of America (VOA) on Thursday, the minister said that Pakistan had been passing through a severe energy crisis and the import of LNG from Qatar would be a positive and welcome step to address the issue.
He said the two countries also signed three other agreements and memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the fields of Radio, TV, health and academic research.
The minister said that 50 per cent of Pakistan’s energy needs depended upon power generated through gas. He said the import of LNG from Qatar had been started partially but on the basis of need, the LNG had been given to the users.
He said that under the agreement, three ships carrying LNG would reach Pakistan every month this year and next year, adding that the number of shipments would be increased to five after 2017.
Abbasi, to a question, said that Pakistan had been facing energy crisis for several years due to which not only domestic users were facing troubles, but economy of the country had been affected badly.
In his comments, former Sui Southern Gas Company Limited general manager Brigadier (r) Agha Gul said that the process of buying LNG from Qatar was going on from 2004.
“This would prove to be one of the achievements Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had secured so far,” he said talking to VOA. He said that people who have some “know-how” of the energy crisis would term this project as “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Gul said the government had made the deal at the time when petrol prices had reduced which would have a good impact on the deal. He said the deal would help in reducing load shedding by 10 to 15 per cent.
Five more LNG import agreements to be signed with Qatar: minister
