Pakistan gives green light to five LNG terminal plans

Monday, 23 September 2019 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ISLAMABAD (REUTERS): Pakistan has given the go-ahead to five consortiums, including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi, to progress with their liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal plans, a minister told Reuters on Friday.

The move comes on the heels of the arrests of two Pakistan business executives involved in building the country’s previous LNG terminals, cooling sentiment in the industry.

Pakistan is seen as a big growth market for the global LNG industry as domestic gas production slips in tandem with a growing industrial economy hungry for gas.

But an anti-corruption drive by Prime Minister Imran Khan led to the arrests of a former boss of Engro, which built the first import terminal, and the chief of another company associated with a second terminal.

Power and Petroleum Minister Omar Ayub Khan downplayed any impact the arrests may have had on investors’ sentiment, saying the interest from multinationals spoke for itself.

“That is a ringing endorsement that (our) policies are clear and transparent,” 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 trader Trafigura; Engro with partner Shell, and Gunvor with Pakistani conglomerate Fatima.

Tabeer Energy, Engro and Energas already announced plans for the terminals which will be Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRUs) vessels. These can be newbuild or converted LNG tankers, speeding up the delivery of the import projects.

Exxon and Shell did not respond to requests for comment. Mitsubishi has project details on Tabeer Energy’s website. Engro, Fatima and GasPort were not immediately reachable for a comment.

Trafigura declined to comment on the specific project but said it was “committed to grow and expand its existing regas (regasification) capacity” in Pakistan.