New Private LNG Terminal in Pakistan
A group of leading business houses in Pakistan plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by March 2019 for gas processing and consumption in their own plants, Reuters reported.
The proposed, second multi-million dollars terminal being set up at the Port Qasim to handle LNG imports will give tremendous boost to LNG trade. The private terminal will bring the total number of potential LNG import projects in the country to eight.
Currently, Pakistan has only one active LNG import terminal at Port Qasim in Karachi but is seen by traders and suppliers as a major growth market key to soaking up a growing glut of the fuel on international markets.
The development comes after the government had abandoned proposed $2 billion Gwadar-Nawabshah gas pipeline project and opted for The Pakistan LNG Terminal Limited, second terminal facility at Qasim Port.
“This terminal will be different from others (in Pakistan); we all business partners are buyers of the gas and no supplier is our partner (in the terminal),” the terminal’s Chief Executive Officer, Anser Ahmed Khan.
Yunus Brothers Group, Sapphire Group and the private backers of Pakistan’s Halmore Power Generation Co are co-funding the Energas terminal to supply their power plants, cement, auto and chemical factories, and textile mills with about 2.1 million tonnes of LNG per year.
The terminal at Port Qasim in Karachi will include a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), converting the LNG back into gas for feeding into Pakistan’s pipeline grid.