KARACHI: President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain, has expressed deep concern over the suspension of LNG supply to Pakistan by Qatar until November 5 under the “force majeure” clause.
He explained that “force majeure” is a legal provision that relieves parties from fulfilling their contractual obligations in the event of natural disasters, accidents, or unavoidable emergencies.
Noting that Qatar supplies 20 percent of the world’s LNG, he warned that this disruption due to the US-Iran war will severely impact industrial gas supplies.
Mian Zahid Hussain stated that over the past five years, the country’s average annual unconstrained demand for natural gas and imported LNG has hovered between 1.27 and 1.46 trillion cubic feet (TcF).
However, due to gas rationing and pipeline constraints, actual consumption has been restricted to barely 1.1 to 1.2 TcF annually.
He said that between March and September 2026, due to the Iran-US war, the situation became so critical that Pakistan managed to secure only 17 LNG cargoes. He said that the last shipment arrived from Qatar on September 22.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that industries were already struggling in the global market due to the high cost of doing business.
The anticipated cuts in LNG supply will force Pakistani factories to scale down production.
He warned that if Pakistani exporters failed to honor their commitments to international buyers, and orders were canceled, it would have a devastating impact on the country’s export sector.
Mian Zahid Hussain pointed out that the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Division have previously procured spot cargoes from the open market, and given the current circumstances, there is no alternative but to buy LNG spot cargoes internationally to maintain the country’s gas supply and demand balance.
He said that this temporary financial burden was far less damaging than the potential industrial shutdown, crippled production capacity, and catastrophic loss of exports.
Available domestic reserves and imported LNG must be channeled to industrial processes and the export sector on a priority basis to maintain the momentum of the national economy and ensure the economically viable utilization of resources.
Welcoming the government’s efforts toward macroeconomic stabilization, he said that despite the recent war in the region, Pakistan’s economic and diplomatic performance has been tremendously recognized globally.
However, he said that keeping the industrial wheel running at full capacity was the real measure of success.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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