ExxonMobil, Pakistan's UGDC Sign LNG Deal

ExxonMobil has signed an LNG supply deal with Pakistan’s Universal Gas Distribution Company (UGDC), the Pakistani government said in a statement September 18. This is the first time that a private company in Pakistan will be importing LNG.

The agreement was signed by UGDC CEO Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha and ExxonMobil vice president Richard Rayfield in Houston during Gastech, the government said.

Special assistant to the prime minister on petroleum, Nadeem Babar, said the Pakistani government wants to come out of the business of gas import and this deal is the first step in that direction. At present, state-owned Pakistan State Oil and Pakistan LNG have agreements to import LNG.

Under the agreement signed between both the companies, a total of four cargoes will be imported in one year, Paracha told The Nation. According to the newspaper, the first shipment is expected next month. UGDC will use the existing LNG import facilities for the handling the cargoes, Paracha said. Pakistan has two operational LNG import terminals, both at Port Qasim near Karachi.