ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar has said that a deal for importing 3.5 million tons of LNG per year from Qatar is expected to be finalised by end of the current year.

Talking to reporters after attending the Annual Technical Conference of Society of Petroleum Engineers and Pakistan Association of Petroleum Geoscientists here on Tuesday, the minister said the country needed gas for power generation to provide electricity to the industries mainly textile sector.

He added that import of liquefied natural gas was the fastest mode of importing gas which was also cheaper than furnace oil.

Mr Qamar said that negotiations with Qatar Gas to secure LNG quota for Pakistan were in the final stage.

He said the supply of LNG due to high demand had been under stress.

Responding to a question, the minister said that the gas load management plan had been deferred for the time being due to less demand from the domestic sector.

‘The shortfall increases after the severity of cold increases.’ Mr Qamar said.

Earlier addressing the conference he said urged the geoscientists to play their role in exploring the indigenous oil and gas resources to meet the growing energy needs.

The minister stressed for optimal and sustainable development of the indigenous oil, gas and human resources.

The minister noted that the government was promoting oil and gas exploration activities and it was the responsibility of E&P companies to share their experiences and expertise to come forward and together take the country from a state of energy deficiency to that of sufficiency and surplus.

Speakers at the conference said that despite regular interaction with advanced technology and investment by international exploration and production firms, Pakistan was faced with a dearth of technical know-how.

‘There was a need to develop human resource especially in the upstream sector,’ said Dr Gufaraz Ahmed, Chairman Society of Petroleum Engineers.