Qatari LNG Arrivals to Ease Pakistan's Energy Crisis

Pakistan's energy crisis is set to ease as Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments are expected to arrive in the country this month. The first cargo is scheduled to arrive as early as Thursday, according to ship-tracking data cited by Bloomberg.

The arrival of these Qatari LNG shipments will help alleviate the energy crisis in Pakistan, where power generation costs have soared due to a gas crunch and rolling blackouts have become a common occurrence. These outages have lasted for up to 24 hours in some parts of the country.

Pakistan has been struggling to secure LNG supplies after Qatar declared force majeure on its exports following Iranian strikes that damaged its Ras Laffan LNG hub. The country has had to turn to spot LNG markets, paying hefty premiums for occasional shipments. Before the war, Pakistan was paying around $20 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) under long-term contracts with Qatar.

However, recent tenders have seen prices rise significantly, with one bid reaching as high as $27 per MMBtu, three times higher than pre-war LNG prices. A senior executive at Pakistan LNG Limited said that the international LNG price is around $23.18 per MMBtu, but the received bid was $26.969 per MMBtu, which was considered too high.