ISLAMABAD – World’s largest Oil and Gas Companies consortium makes bigentry into Pakistan with the award of the five new mega LNG terminalsacross the country.
Pakistan has given the go-ahead to five consortiums, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi, to progress with their liquefiednatural gas (LNG) terminal plans.
Pakistan’s LNG market is estimated at billions of dollars with vastpotential of further expansion with rise in economic activity and CPECPhase 2.
Pakistan is seen as a big growth market for the global LNG industry asdomestic gas production slips in tandem with a growing industrial economyhungry for gas.
But an anti-corruption drive by Prime Minister Imran Khan led to thearrests of a former boss of Engro, which built the first import terminal,and the chief of another company associated with a second terminal, Reutershas reported.
Power and Petroleum Minister Omar Ayub Khan downplayed any impact thearrests may have had on investors’ sentiment, saying the interest frommultinationals spoke for itself.
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“That is a ringing endorsement that (our) policies are clear andtransparent,” he said. “It’s a competitive market.”
The groups approved to progress are Tabeer Energy, a unit of Mitsubishi,Energas with partner Exxon; Pakistan GasPort and commodities traderTrafigura; Engro with partner Shell, and Gunvor with Pakistani conglomerateFatima.
Tabeer Energy, Engro and Energas already announced plans for the terminalswhich will be Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRUs) vessels.These can be newbuild or converted LNG tankers, speeding up the delivery ofthe import projects.
