Pakistan seeks two LNG cargoes for winter

Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL), a government subsidiary that procures liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the international market, has issued a tender seeking two LNG cargoes.

PLL, in the tender advertised on Wednesday, is seeking two cargoes on a delivered-ex-ship (DES) basis to Port Qasim in Karachi in December.

The delivery windows are December 7-8 and December 13-14.

The tender will close on October 4.

PLL has been mandated by the Pakistan government to carry out the business of importing, buying, storing, supplying, distributing, transporting, transmitting, processing, measuring, metering and selling natural gas, LNG and re-gasified LNG.

In its capacity, PLL procures LNG from international markets and enters into onward arrangements for the supply of gas to end users, thereby managing the whole supply chain of LNG from procurement to end users.

Dependent on gas for power generation, the country has struggled to procure spot cargoes of LNG after global prices spiked last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, leaving it to face widespread power outages.

Back in June, PLL failed to secure offers for six cargoes on a DES basis for October and December delivery to Port Qasim.

Pakistan has two long-term supply deals with Qatar, one signed in 2016 for 3.75 million metric tons of LNG a year, and another signed in 2021 for 3 million metric tons a year.

It also has an annual portfolio contract with ENI for 0.75 million metric tons a year.

In 2022, Pakistan's imports of LNG slowed to 6.93 million metric tons for the year, down from 8.23 million metric tons in 2021, according to data from data analytics group Kpler.