Jan 12th, 2012 The government of Pakistan has decided to import 500,000 Mcf/day of LNG from Qatar, Minister

for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr. Asim Hussain, said yesterday. A four-member Petroleum Ministry delegation will visit Qatar to finalize plans, he added. The News Pakistan to import LNG from Qatar January 11, 2012 ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to import 500 million cubic feet of LNG per day (mmcfd) from Qatar to cope with the endemic energy crisis and to this effect it will also provide sovereign guarantees to the relevant authorities in Qatar. The government will send a four-member experts team to Qatar next Sunday to negotiate the LNG price, Dr Asim Hussain, federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, told a group of journalists after holding a meeting of the special committee constituted by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on gas load management plan. After the failure of the private companies to import LNG, the government has sprung into action in view of the worsening energy crisis, the sources in the ministry of petroleum and natural resources told The News. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had earlier finalised, the sources said, three companies including Global Energy International, Gas Port and Engro for import of LNG. The Global Energy (GE) had given the undertaking to Ogra that it would import the LNG by the second quarter of the current year 2012 and Engro and Progas by second quarter of 2013. However, the GE had started seeking more relaxations, which are against the rules of business earlier set by Ogra. The GE had asked for the sovereign guarantees, waiver of the third party access rules and more time up till November 2012. The Ogra extended the time on the directives of the ministry, but the said company seems not inclined to import LNG, which is why the minister air-dashed to Qatar where he gave an undertaking that the Pakistan government would provide sovereign guarantees to Qatar against the import of 500 mmcfd LNG According to the minister Qatar had earlier refused to provide LNG to Pakistan without sovereign guarantees. He said the country is currently facing 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas shortfall per day. The import of LNG will not negate the 2011 LNG policy under which the government is bound not to provide any sovereign guarantee to the private company importing LNG into Pakistan. The minister said that about 800 mmcfd of gas will be injected in the system by June this year. Referring to the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, the minister said the work on the project has been expedited andAccording to an official, replacing furnace oil based electricity generation with LNG would save between $30-50 million per month at the current rate . Tuesday, 22 March 2011 10:18 The official further revealed that Pakistan requires additional gas supply for at least five years or till such a time that the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline becomes operational. Soon after coming into power, the ruling PPP had showed a determination to end gas load shedding by 2011 through importing LNG from Qatar. In the draft LNG policy 2006, the government decided to use imported LNG for power generation and industrial production, mainly for the textile sector. to this effect 16 pre-qualified companies have been issued tender documents.

Qatar is one of the largest LNG producers of the world, operated by the state-owned Qatar Gas Company. LNG is one of the fastest growing fuels in the world and due to high demand its supply has been under stress. The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) is already working to establish an LNG terminal in the country. Qatar produces around 1,600 million cubic feet natural gas per day, which is transferred to plants known as the trains , which are 300 metres long and the trains process the natural gas into exportable liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG production started in Qatar in 2005 and Qatar Gas exports 10 million tonnes per annum LNG. Qatar Gas Company plans to expand capacity in 2010 to 42 million tonnes per annum. The government of Pakistan considers that LNG imports from Qatar would be instrumental in overcoming energy-related issues of Pakistan. An official further revealed that the government has already nominated SSGC as the project facilitator for the establishment of 3. 5 million tonnes per annum (equivalent to 500 MMCFD of gas) LNG import project with a re-gasification facility to be located in the vicinity of Karachi but this project will take further 2-3 years to complete. There is a difference of 20 percent between the prices of furnace oil and LNG. The share of liquefied gas in overall power generation of the country is 10-12 percent. The addition of LNG in power generation would result in less dependence on the furnace oil than before. That would be highly beneficial for the consumers as per unit cost will be 20 percent less than that of furnace oil . January 11, 2012 under Oil, Gas and Power Last year, Pakistan gave licenses to three companies Pakistan Gasport, Engro Corporation and Global Energy Infrastructure to bring 1.5 billion cubic feet/day LNG into Pakistan, and these companies are to build terminals to handle the LNG. Following the finalization of the plan with Qatar, Pakistan is expected to use these terminals to bring LNG into the country after paying these operators.