Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi has shared a plan for the instalment of a fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the country at Karachi’s Port Qasim.
Taking to Twitter to make the announcement on Tuesday, Ali Zaidi shared that Mitsubishi company has decided to invest US $300 million for setting up the LNG terminal at the port.
“After Energas, Tabeer Energy (Mitsubishi) is also close to finalising their FID to set up the [fourth] LNG terminal,” he said in his message on the micro-blogging site.
The terminal will be installed at Port Qasim and the project will be completed within two years, he said, adding that 90 LNG cargo ships could dock at the terminal at a time. The federal minister further shared that a 24-kilometer gas pipeline would also be laid for the supply of the LNG from the terminal.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan on February 26 inked a new agreement with Qatar for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The ceremony held in Islamabad was also attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Energy Minister Umar Ayub and his Qatari counterpart signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries.
According to the agreement, Qatar will provide three million tonnes of LNG to Pakistan in the next ten years. The new agreement for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) with Qatar will save $300 million annually of Pakistan’s exchequer.
Earlier this year, Pakistan allowed its private sector to import LNG as the oil and gas regulatory body issued import licences to at least two companies. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has reportedly issued 10-year term LNG importing licences to at least two private sector companies.