Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has invited tenders for international bidders for spot purchase of liquid natural gas (LNG) for three months (July-September) amidst on-going price negotiation with Qatar for import of additional 400 mmcfd LNG.
Sources told this correspondent that Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) released Rs 60 billion to Pakistan LNG Limited instead of settling its outstanding dues to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) which have risen to Rs 61 billion.
Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has invited bids from international suppliers for the supply of five LNG cargoes of 140,000 cubic meters each for July-September 2019 on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis at Port Qasim, Karachi.
The first delivery window would be from July 30-31, the second from August 23-24, third from September 3-4, fourth from September 15-16 and fifth from September 20-21 for spot purchase. Deadline of submission of the bids is June 13, 2019. Award dates of the contracts are June 24 and validity date is June 28.
On Monday, PLL floated tenders for spot purchase of one cargo each for July and August and three cargos for September. In April, the government had allowed PSO to one-time import of furnace oil for power generation. However, it requires three months to complete the process of international bidding under Public Procurement Regulatory Authority's rules and regulations and hence PSO will be able to import furnace oil by August for power generation.
Rates of LNG in the fixed spot market dropped to $4.7 per million MMbtu this month coinciding with Pakistan's public-sector entities finalising bidding for six cargos with deliveries due between May 1 and June 30. The lowest evaluated bids ranged from 9.278 percent and 9.938 percent of Brent crude price of around $69 a barrel.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has notified revised prices of RLNG for the Sui Northern GPL and Sui Southern GC for the current month.
According to the notification, there is $0.13 per mmbtu (Million British Thermal Unit) reduction in sale price of imported RLNG on the system of Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Company (SSGC) for the month of May as compared to April 2019. The new RLNG price for SSGC system has been fixed at $ 10.38 per mmbtu.
There is $0.11 per mmbtu decrease in sale price of imported RLNG on the system of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Company Limited (SNGPL) for the current month as compared to the corresponding month. The new price of the LNG for SNGPL system has been fixed at $ 10.45 per mmbtu.
Pakistan's LNG imports in nine months (July-March 2018-19) stood at $2.404 billion, up 49.30 percent as compared with LNG imports of 1.61 billion in the corresponding period of 2017-18, as the country is fast switching to LNG imports.
Import of LNG is estimated at around 8 million tonnes last year. Expected annual import of LNG will rise to 15-30 million tonnes over the next four to five years, according to official estimates.
Pakistan is adding at least 300,000 gas consumers every year who consume local production at cheap rates elbowing out productive sectors to rely on imports.
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