Second LNG terminal: GHPL relaxes condition for bidders

Winner of tender can acquire land for project site later

ISLAMABAD: Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL) has eased the criterion for prospective investors interested in setting up the second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the country, an official says.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) document states that the bidder will submit a valid provisional no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) for setting up the terminal and the terminal’s proposed location at the time of signing the LNG services agreement.

According to the official, this may spark controversy as it means that NOC is not required with the bids and the successful bidder can acquire land for the project site later. “This is being done to give favour to an investor,” he said.

For the award of the first LNG terminal contract which was won by Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL), the site requirement was mandatory.“Without the site, you cannot put forward the tolling tariff because you do not know the cost of jetty, pipelines, dredging, etc,” the official pointed out.

Earlier, the plan to build the second LNG terminal suffered a setback after two board members of GHPL resigned in an attempt to avoid the bidding process.

Historically, it had been the task of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to deal with matters pertaining to establishing LNG terminals in the country, the official said.

SSGC, in particular, has the experience of working on LNG terminal projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2015.

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