KARACHI: A cargo ship carrying around 82,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar arrived in Pakistan through the near-closed Strait of Hormuz, reported Anadolu news agency on Thursday.

Al Marrouna, carrying LNG from Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal, transited through the strait on Monday and docked at the Engro LNG Terminal at Port Qasim on Thursday morning, said Asad Altaf, a spokesman for the port.

It marked the first Qatari LNG shipment for Pakistan through the strait since July. According to Altaf, the last Qatar-origin LNG cargo arrived on July 11, the news agency reported.

“The scheduled cargoes from Qatar Energy had been disrupted due to the regional situation,” he added.

First shipment via Hormuz since July 11 will boost supplies to power sector

The fresh shipment that Pakistan procured under a government-to-government arrangement with Qatar is likely to boost the LNG supplies and provide temporary relief to the power sector.

It has also eased concerns over a prolonged disruption of Qatari LNG supplies through the strait.

Islamabad and Doha have been playing an active role in ongoing mediation between the US and Iran to bring the two sides back to the table to end their months-long war.

Pakistan is currently facing power outages of between six and 12 hours in several parts of the country amid soaring fuel prices due to fresh hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz.

Currently, Islamabad is following a daily fuel price mechanism in response to the volatile crude market, triggering protests by political parties.

Stakeholders genuinely fear that an escalating war in the Gulf could severely disrupt supplies of both crude oil and LNG.

Pakistan has recently been buying crude oil from the US in small quantities, but the cost is higher because of long-distance shipping.

High fuel prices have increased production costs, as goods transporters announced a 10 per cent rise in freight charges amid a spike in inflation.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2026