PGPL to build LNG terminal by Dec 2021
LNG terminal. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan GasPort Consortium Limited (PGPL) has emphasised that it will complete work on its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in December 2021.
At present, the company is operating one LNG terminal at Port Qasim, which has a capacity of handling 750 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd). PGPL is a subsidiary of the Associated Group.
In a meeting held this week to discuss the setting up of LNG terminals in Pakistan, the Associated Group chairman reaffirmed that the project would be completed by the end of next year. He added that the company would do so by seeking pipeline capacity while taking risk.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar chaired a stakeholder consultation session at the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) this week with LNG terminal operators.
The aim of the meeting was to consult the companies currently operating LNG terminals in Pakistan and those who had planned to make investment in the sector to get a better idea of their projects in terms of design, capacity and schedule.
The discussion would help align the gas transmission and distribution network being established by the Petroleum Division in compliance with a decision of the Supreme Court, made in August, which ordered the ministry to begin work on the North-South Gas Pipeline within six months.
Babar appreciated the companies for their interest in investing in the LNG supply terminals in the country.
“Given the increasing energy needs of Pakistan, which are constrained by depleting gas reserves and low foreign investment in the exploration and production sector, LNG can improve energy economics and sustainability of supply for domestic and industrial consumers,” he said.
He urged the LNG terminal companies to inform the Petroleum Division about the constraints they faced while achieving financial close of their projects, so the ministry could address them to ensure that timelines for gas supply and allied pipeline infrastructure could be as accurate as possible.