KARACHI: Two vessels carrying LNG – 140,000 cubic meters each – berthed at separate terminals at Port Qasim on Tuesday.
Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Haider Zaidi appreciated the Port Qasim Authority for strategically handling the docking of the LNG ships at berths.[the_ad id=”32940″]Al-Karana carrying 140,000 cubic meters of LNG has come from Qatar, but it is a spot purchase by PSO from Gunvor. It berthed Engro Elengy Terminal.
The other vessel carrying 140,000 cubec meters of gas imported by Pak LNG limited berthed at Pakistan Gasport Terminal.
A larger Q-flex cargo of PSO could not be berthed due to high wind speed (beyond 18 knots) on Monday while a cargo of Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) also faced problems. The weather condition went severe on Tuesday and expected to remain so until February 16.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) said the LNG cargo reported in Pakistan as per stipulated time, but the berthing of the vessel could not take place due to weather conditions.
Pakistan relies on natural gas to meet almost 50 percent of its energy needs but its proven gas reserves have dwindled in recent years, as consumption has outweighed new discoveries. Early LNG imports have been substituting for domestic gas, but the intention is to raise the share of gas in the nation’s energy mix by reducing the use of polluting and inefficient furnace oil and expensive diesel oil as power station fuels and increasing LNG purchases.
The share of LNG imports in power generation has been continuously rising since the last 1.5 years, which has resulted in the phasing out of more expensive furnace oil-based power plants.
According to S&P Global Platts projections, LNG imports are expected to increase from 4.9 million MT in 2017 to nearly 24 million MT/year by 2023.