The gas crisis is likely to be severe in January

Non-availability of cheap LNG cargo from Azerbaijan's SOCAR company is expected. Photo file

Islamabad: In January, the nation's gas issue is probably going to get worse.


Officials say that non-availability of cheap LNG cargo from Azerbaijan's SOCAR is expected.


According to the details, senior officials of the Ministry of Energy told The News that there is a high possibility of non-availability of cheap LNG cargo from Azerbaijan's state-owned company Socar (SOCAR) in January 2024.


The country was projected to have a shortfall of 360 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas in December 2023, rising to 470 mmcfd in January 2024, prior to non-delivery of incoming LNG cargoes. Despite this, the home sector's access to gas is restricted to eight hours during the cooking season.


Now the expected non-availability of soccer cargo will exacerbate the gas crisis in January and force the government to reduce gas availability for the domestic sector from 8 hours to just 6 hours. Officials expressed concern that Saker's specific reply indicated it would not be able to provide affordable LNG cargo for January.


During the government of former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a GTG contract was signed with Azeri firm Sakar under which it is obliged to supply one LNG cargo per month.


On July 25, 2023, Pakistan and Azerbaijan inked a deal that will last for a year with a one-year extension option.


Under the agreement, Soccer Trading Company UK will offer an LNG cargo 45 days prior to the start of the relevant delivery window (delivery period) and each offer for the cargo will have a fixed maturity period during which the PLL offer will be accepted. can accept


Soccer has decided not to offer LNG cargoes in January as the economies of the West start to recover and it gets more difficult to find affordable LNG.


The Azeri firm is bound to make an offer 45 days before cargo delivery, so there is still time and Saker can come up with an offer for the month of January 2024, the official added.


Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) is also planning to market its tenders for spot cargoes for January but PLL has sought two exemptions from PPRA rules, one for 30 days. from the response time of and second from the time of bid validity of 15 days and till now the process is ongoing.


If the waiver is approved, PLL will be required to react to tenders for spot cargo in January within a few hours and make a decision that same day.