Pakistan's state-owned oil importer Pakistan State Oil has received interest from 12 international companies to supply 400,000 Mcf/day of LNG in response to its tender that was launched two months ago, said an official of the ministry of petroleum Thursday.
Among the companies interested in supplying LNG are Shell, BP and Mitsubishi Corp.
Pakistan currently does not import LNG, but has been building receiving infrastructure with a view to starting within a year of finalizing offer agreements and pricing details with suppliers.
The government has been working on three different ways to import LNG -- by issuing long-term buy tenders in the international market; through long-term contracts with countries like Qatar with the deals signed on a government-to-government basis; and direct spot market purchases.
Pakistan and Qatar have already signed a memorandum of understanding for LNG imports in February 2012, but progress has been slow due to delays in approval of a terminal and in finalizing the gas price, Platts has reported.
Pakistan's apex decision making body on the economic and financial issues -- the Economic Coordination Committee -- has set up a panel to discuss the pricing details with Qatari officials and they will meet end August to finalize the price.
The bid levels given in the PSO tender by the 12 companies would be considered for the price discussions and in the setting of a benchmark price to import LNG, the ministry official said.
Pakistan's first planned LNG terminal is currently being built by Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited at Port Qasim, with completion scheduled by March 31, 2015, the ministry official said.
That terminal will initially receive almost 200,000 Mcf/day of LNG for re-gasification, increasing to 400,000 Mcf/day in the second year.
The country is currently facing a gas shortfall of around 1.6 Bcf/day, with production at around 4.2 Bcf/day against demand of 5.8 Bcf/day, with the deficit rising to around 2.2 Bcf/day during peak winter demand periods.
Pakistan's ECC in July 2014 approved construction of three LNG import terminals at Port Qasim in southern Pakistan. When completed the three terminals will be able to import, store and regasify up to 1.7 Bcf/d of LNG.
