ISLAMABAD: The government is mulling to set up two more LNG terminals in its concerted bid to use this fuel being imported from Qatar to overcome gas shortages and significantly increase power generation.
These two planned terminals of liquefied natural gas would be established at the coasts of Sindh and Makran (Gwadar), sources in the Ministry of Petroleum told APP. It may be mentioned that LNG is considered 50 percent cheaper as compared to diesel in power generation. The government recently signed a deal to import the commodity from Qatar.
“Another two LNG terminals will be established in Sindh and Gwadar and once they complete, the country’s gas shortage will be overcome,” official sources said.
Last year in March, the country’s first LNG terminal was built in the shortest period of 11 months, through which around 200 mmcfd (million cubic feet per day) LNG was being pumped into the national system to meet the existing energy demand.
Commenting on the fast-track completion of the first terminal, they said it had been completed in 335 days at a cost of $135 million, which was a record in world’s history.
Normally, a terminal takes around three to four years to complete and become operational, but it was to the credit of the present government that the country’s first LNG terminal was completed in just 11 months.
The sources termed the planned establishment of terminals a ‘milestone’ in history of the country and expressed confidence that with the import of LNG, there would be a significant decrease in electricity load-shedding as special focus was being given to overcome the power shortage.
New LNG power plants, the sources said, were being established, because LNG was 50 percent cheaper as compared to the diesel power generation plants, and it would save over Rs 100 billion annually. They said importing LNG at the price of 4.78 dollars per mmBtu was the cheapest of its kind in South Asia. Besides it would help meet the country’s energy needs by 25 per cent.
The sources said the settled price was 13.37 percent of the brent and was cheaper than the gas to be imported through Iran-Pakistan and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline projects. LNG would be cheaper even than Pakistan’s indigenous gas, they added.
