After rejecting the offer to buy expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG), the state-owned Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) has reissued the LNG tender on Wednesday and is now seeking a cargo before September 12.
Offers are due on Friday, Bloomberg reported.
As per the report, PLL earlier scrapped an emergency tender for a shipment for delivery by September 8 after receiving a sole offer from BP Plc at $27 per million British thermal units, nearly three times pre-war spot levels.
Bloomberg noted that the government may need to continue blackouts in the evening if immediate supplies are not ensured. It added that the energy crunch amid the ongoing US-Iran war has disrupted LNG flows from Pakistan’s top supplier, Qatar, which last week extended force majeure.
Last week, Pakistan’s Power Division indirectly held the Petroleum Division responsible for prolonged electricity outages across the country, attributing the situation to a shortage of RLNG required to operate three RLNG-based power plants in Punjab.
Well-informed sources told Business Recorder that the shortage emerged after PLL was forced to procure RLNG from the spot market following suspension of its contracted gas supplies from Qatar due to a force majeure situation. The delayed arrival of an RLNG cargo further aggravated the fuel shortage and adversely affected electricity generation.
The federal government on Monday apologised for load shedding during night hours, attributing the situation to non-availability of contracted LNG from Qatar, which rendered power plants with a combined capacity of around 5,000 MW unable to operate.
“There has been no shortage in supply during the day or night so far. However, due to increased demand during night hours, when the requirement cannot be met without RLNG-fired power plants, people are passing through a difficult time, for which I apologise,” Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said.
