Pakistan Gets First Nigerian LNG Cargo at New Terminal

Pakistan received its first LNG cargo from Nigeria November 24 at the newly inaugurated floating LNG terminal at Port Qasim, the Express Tribune reported November 25.

Until now, Pakistan has been importing all its LNG from Qatar. The newspaper reported that the Pakistani government is negotiating a state-to-state LNG deal with Nigeria without inviting any bids.

The Nigerian LNG cargo was brought by commodity trader Gunvor through Golar Kevin vessel at the new terminal which was inaugurated November 20. This terminal is led by Pakistan GasPort with Trafigura having a minority stake.

Pakistan’s LNG imports have been steadily growing as the import infrastructure expands. Pakistan's first LNG import venture began in operation in March 2015, with Exquisite on charter from US shipowner Excelerate at Port Qasim, near Karachi, providing the infrastructure. More FSRU’s are expected to be developed in coming years as LNG demand increase. During the inauguration of the second FSRU November 20, Trafigura said it will be working on developing another FSRU at Port Qasim, again in cooperation with Pakistan GasPort.

However, there has been a minor setback to the industry as Oslo-based shipowner Hoegh LNG has officially pulled the plug on its charter agreement with Pakistan's privately-owned would-be LNG importer, Global Energy Infrastructure (GEI).