KARACHI: The first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar reached the shores of Karachi on Thursday, carrying 148,517 cubic metres of the super-chilled fuel.

The LNG arrived at the Port Qasim LNG terminal arrived in a Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) — a large ship with stores and converts LNG to gas — which will now permanently dock at the Engro Elengy Terminal.

“We are hopeful that the commissioning of the country’s first LNG terminal will help meet the rising demand of gas in the country and fuel economic growth and help alleviate the energy crisis that continues to impede industrial growth,” Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd (ETPL) CEO Sheikh Imranul Haque said in a statement.

After re-gasification, the gas will be injected into the Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) network. The company will then transfer it to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) at the Zamzama-Sawan gas establishment.

Initially, the LNG will be provided to four Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Punjab, including Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco). In later phases, it will cater to compressed natural gas (CNG) and fertiliser sectors.

Meanwhile, confusion still persists as the government has yet to disclose the per million British thermal units (mmbtu) price of LNG.

The FSRU has the capacity to process 600 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of LNG, but the government initially aims to import 200 mmcfd from Qatar, the world’s biggest LNG producer.

The government says the LNG import would help the country raise power production by 10 per cent, besides annual savings of $300 million to the generating companies.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

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