Engro may provide only terminal services for LNG import

Company denies getting fast-track LNG import project.

KARACHI: Engro Corporation has said the government will purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG), not Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL), which, according to a proposal, will provide services to offload and re-gasify LNG at its terminal at the Port Qasim.

“It is well known that the terminal cost is a fraction of the cost of re-gasified LNG,” it says in a statement issued on Wednesday, denying that the fast-track multi-billion-dollar LNG import project had been awarded to EVTL by the government.

“Engro Corporation and its subsidiaries have always adhered to a robust corporate governance structure, ethical practices based on international standards and followed the rule of law,” it says.

According to Engro, the government has expressed its intention to import LNG on fast track in addition to a dedicated terminal for which tenders are being invited. Under the programme, limited quantities will be imported in order to meet the country’s energy requirements on an urgent basis.



Engro claims that EVTL is the only company which has the infrastructure and spare capacity, manpower and skills and environmental and regulatory approvals to provide terminal facilities in the shortest possible time to facilitate offloading of re-gasified LNG in the country.

The government has stated that it will carefully look at Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and only if the PPRA provisions allow then it will negotiate directly with Engro. EVTL agrees to and ensures adherence to PPRA rules and transparency in government contracts.

Apart from these, Engro says, EVTL ensures safe handling of LPG and cryogenic ethylene supported by effective procedures and systems.

EVTL, which adheres to international standards, had done quantitative risk analysis, computer simulation studies of the Port Qasim channel and environmental study after which NOC was issued by the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

In association with Vopak, Engro says it has the ability to leverage its global experience of two LNG terminals based in Rotterdam and Mexico. Moreover, the Port Qasim has the skill set and operational knowledge and has safely been handling vessels of larger or smaller dimensions at Fotco terminal and Qasim International Container Terminal for several years.

The Port Qasim Authority has also approved the floating storage and re-gasification vessel (FSRU) offloading at EVTL.

Engro also highlights that the fast-track LNG project was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee in October last year after deliberations between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). As a result, Expression of Interest (EOI) was issued by SSGC on December 24, 2012 to which EVTL was the only entity to respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2013.

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