ISLAMABAD: A liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel from Qatar arrived in Pakistan this week, a port official said on Tuesday, amid hopes of an agreement between Iran and Oman to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway for commercial shipping.
The QatarEnergy-controlled LNG tanker Al-Areesh exited the Strait of Hormuz on July 30, the first such vessel visible on ship-tracking data to leave the waterway since July 11. However, on July 31, the vessel was diverted from the Strait of Hormuz maritime route due to heightened tensions in the region as the US and Iran resumed attacks against each other.
Iran has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping since its war with the United States began in February this year. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies used to be shipped through the narrow waterway before the war began.
“The LNG vessel Al-Areesh berthed at the Pakistan GasPort Limited (PGPL) terminal yesterday at 11:30 am, carrying a shipment of LNG from Qatar,” Asad Warsi, spokesperson for the Port Qasim Authority in Pakistan, told Arab News.
Quoting a senior official, Pakistani newspaper The News said Al-Areesh was carrying 141,550 cubic meters of LNG under Pakistan’s government-to-government (GtG) agreement with Qatar.
It said the cargo is priced at 13.37 percent of Brent, making it substantially cheaper than spot LNG, with prevailing spot prices having climbed above $21.12 per MMBtu and potentially exceeding $23 per MMBtu if Pakistan were to procure fresh cargoes through the spot market.
Pakistan received its last LNG cargo from Qatar on June 22, the seventh spot one to have arrived in the country since April.
Pakistan’s fragile energy supply chain depends on fuel imports from the Middle East. It generates about 17 percent of its electricity from gas, including around 6 percent from imported LNG.
The South Asian country typically requires four to five LNG cargoes each month between April and August to keep its roughly 5,000-megawatt LNG-fired power plants operating.
