ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said it had signed a 15-year import deal for up to 3.75 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year from top producer Qatar, a major step in plugging the country’s energy shortfall.

The deal, Pakistan’s biggest, will help the country add about 2,000 megawatts of gas-fired power generating capacity and boost production from fertilizer plants hobbled by a lack of feed stock gas, a government official said.

“This is a huge and significant achievement because this diversifies Pakistan’s energy mix,” the official said.

“This is the single largest commercial transaction that Pakistan has entered into,” he said.

Supplies will start in March, Qatar’s state news agency QNA said, and once fully ramped-up will equate to around five LNG cargoes per month, according to the government official.

The nation of 190 million people can only supply about two-thirds of its gas needs. The ruling party, which campaigned on promises of solving the energy crisis, wants to ease shortages by expanding LNG shipments before a 2018 general election.

The deal signed between Pakistan State Oil company and Qatari LNG producer Qatargas-2, the world’s biggest, was witnessed by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the official said.

According to the statement, LNG arriving in any particular month will fetch 13.37 percent of the preceding three-month average price of a barrel of Brent crude oil.

A price review is permitted 10 years after the start of supply, with a cancelation option potentially shortening the deal to 11 years if the parties fail to agree a new price.

There is a supply build up period under the deal.

In 2016, Qatargas, the world’s biggest LNG exporter, will supply 2.25 million tons, followed by a ramp-up to 3.75 mt/year from the second quarter of 2017.

Under the take-or-pay deal, Pakistan retains flexibility to reduce or raise Qatari LNG intake by three cargoes per contract year.