Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division (PD) Friday said the Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) had so far secured 11 cargoes and working to arrange two more aimed at meeting the increased gas demand of consumers in the month of January.
“With the PLL tender that has just closed, with the same average slope as of December, a total number of 11 cargoes are secured for January 2021. The PLL is also working on making arrangements for two more cargoes for January 2021,” the PD clarified in a press statement while responding to some media reports about the LNG procurement.
It said there had been no planned gas load shedding anywhere in the country since the onset of winter in November. “As approved by the Federal Cabinet, the load management plan put in place will ensure no gas load shedding for domestic, commercial and export industry customers. However, the CNG will be curtailed based on available supplies, followed by captive generation.”
Unfortunately, the PD said, the campaign by a certain segments of the media based on incorrect analysis of the LNG market had harmed the latest tender as some suppliers stayed away from the process.
“The wide range of prices offered for the same delivery date clearly shows that the time between the bid opening and the delivery date is NOT the price determinant; the main driver is global demand and supply.”
It also said that the cheapest cargo Pakistan ever bought at $2.23/mmbtu (Million British Thermal Unit) had only 39 days between bid opening and delivery, while previously the most expensive cargo bought at $10.27 had 71 days between bid opening and delivery.
