Pakistan, Qatar sign 10-year LNG supply deal

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: Qatar will provide Pakistan three million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 10 years after the two countries entered into an agreement on Friday, a move that is aimed at addressing the nation’s dwindling gas resources.

Prime Minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing of an agreement that took place here at the PM House. Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan and Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi signed the agreement.

Qatar’s Minister al-Kaabi termed the agreement with Pakistan “historic” and expressed confidence that it would open up new vistas of development. He said Qatar would also promote bilateral cooperation in other areas of mutual interest.

Special Assistant to PM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar said the agreement would prove to be helpful in fulfilling Pakistan’s energy requirements. He said the agreement is a start of a new era and take the bilateral relations between the two countries to new heights. The Special Assistant said Pakistan will further engage with Qatar in petrochemical supplies.

Prime Minister mentioned the agreement in a speech after laying the foundation stone of the country’s first-ever Central Business District in Lahore, a commercial hub aimed at ensuring ease-of-doing-business.

Khan said it took the government nearly three years to negotiate this agreement which will help save the country “$300 hundred million annually and in 10 years, Pakistan will have saved $3 billion”.

Meanwhile, the Premier’s aide on petroleum, Nadeem Babar, in a press conference said the contract signed with Qatar is “31 per cent cheaper” compared to deals signed by previous agreements. Babar said: “It is the lowest publicly disclosed LNG contract in terms of price in the world.”

The Special Assistant said the previous agreement with Qatar was for 15 years, under which the price was fixed for ten years. He said the new agreement, however, envisages price reopening after four years.

The Special Assistant said under the new agreement, the country will receive two LNG ships on average per month and in a period of three years, the number of ships will increase to four. He said the new agreement will be effective from January next year. However, there is a provision that the country can get LNG by the end of this year.

The move comes after the country endured gas shortages and load management — supply cuts — in December, triggering heavy criticism from the opposition on the government failing to procure timely supplies of LNG.