For October 2021, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday (12 October) announced a price increase of $0.4294 per unit for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumers and $0.4362 per unit for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) consumers.
This comes after Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) upped its average spot purchase price to $15.5885 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) in October, up to $2.4837 from September’s average price of $13.1048 per unit.
However, LNG prices under Pakistan State Oil (PSO) long-term contracts, including the one with Qatar, fell to $9.8612 per mmbtu in October from $11.4022 per mmbtu in September.
In October, the oil and gas sector regulator calculated a weighted average RLNG price of $15.7828 per mmbtu for SNGPL users and $14.8686 per unit for gas transmission.
The regulator set a tariff of $15.5280 per mmbtu for SSGC customers and $14.5760 per unit for gas transmission for the same month.
A gas crisis is emerging in the country as state-run LNG suppliers – PLL and PSO – have failed to acquire the requisite LNG cargoes to satisfy the expected rise in demand during the forthcoming winter season.
The private sector has been unable to import gas on its own due to the monopoly of state-owned firms. The government approved the private sector to import LNG in July 2020, but no LNG ships have yet arrived in the country.
PLL, which is importing LNG for onward supply to SNGPL to feed its customers, has been unable to do so due to drastically higher worldwide gas costs.
In a meeting on Tuesday, PLL and PSO notified Energy Minister Hammad Azhar that they had 10 LNG cargoes each for November and December, compared to 11 cargoes for the same period last year. They claimed that due to rising pricing on the international market, LNG traders were not interested in making bids for LNG cargoes.
The meeting was called to assess the country’s gas situation during the winter.
The energy minister emphasized that under the gas load management strategy, uninterrupted gas supply to the export, power, and fertilizer industries, as well as domestic users, will be ensured. The minister emphasized the importance of utilizing the second LNG terminal’s underutilized capacity.
