Dr Asim Hussain Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources has said that LNG import is most essential to overcome the Energy shortfall and it will also help in improving the economy ultimately. He said this while chairing a meeting on LNG import.
The meeting was also attended by Senator Saleem H.Mandviwalla, Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Waqar Masood Khan Secretary Petroleum, Mr. Zuhair Siddiqui Managing Director Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd, (SSGC) Mr. Shahid Sattar Member Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr. Riaz Mahmood Senior Joint Secretary Ministry of Law, Mr. Mansoor Siddiqui Director State Bank of Pakistan, representative of the Ministry of Finance, senior officers of SSGC and Ministry of Petroleum.
A briefing was given by SSGC regarding LNG Integrated Project’s Request For Proposal (RFP). It was informed by SSGC that the LNG bidding process would be through two envelope system i.e. technical and Financial proposals would be sought.
Detailed discussions were held on various aspects of LNG import including quantity, bidding process, timelines, bid security and performance bond, credit structure, sovereign guarantees, evaluation of bids and Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA) terms.
It may be re-called that ECC in its meeting on 7th August 2012 approved the short and long term Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Framework proposed by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources. However, ECC formed a technical group comprising Secretary Petroleum, Secretary Finance, Secretary Water & Power, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Chairman Board of Investment and Chairman State Bank of Pakistan to work further on mechanism, bidding details, guarantee matters and legal issues.
