Pakistan inaugurates new LNG import terminal

Pakistan GasPort’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) based LNG import terminal at Port Qasim in Pakistan has been inaugurated on Monday. 

The project, served by BW’s FSRU BW Integrity with a storage capacity in excess of 170,000 cubic meters and a peak regasification capacity of 750 million standard cubic feet per day, is lauded as another step towards meeting Pakistan’s demand for imported LNG.

The new terminal will more than double Pakistan’s current LNG regasification capacity, however, even after the new terminal reaches full capacity a significant supply shortfall of 19 million tones of LNG per annum is expected.

To further reduce the shortfall, the Swiss trading house Trafigura, that has a minority stake in Pakistan GasPort’s inaugurated import terminal, has teamed up with Pakistan GasPort to develop a second LNG import project at Port Qasim. The two companies see it as an opportunity to boost import growth and scale up the industrial use of LNG in the country.

The plans were unveiled in September with Trafigura not unveiling any development details at the time.

The project will include a new jetty, berth and a second FSRU, and will be developed by the joint venture partners to sell gas to the private sector end-users without direct government involvement.

LNG World News Staff