ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Mossadegh Malik said on Wednesday that Pakistan has postponed a contract to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a country for one year.
The country will now receive the contracted LNG cargo in 2026 instead of 2025.
“We currently have excess LNG stock, so we are not importing any new cargo,” Malik told reporters, without naming the sellers, adding that the order could be cancelled. There is no financial penalty for deferring instead.
Annual electricity consumption in Pakistan, which gets more than a third of its electricity from natural gas, has declined by 8-10 percent year-on-year over the past three quarters, the power minister said in November, mainly due to Higher tariffs are supposed to curb domestic spending. consumption
The government said in November it was cutting electricity rates in the winter to boost consumption and reduce the use of natural gas for heating. Many power utilities in Pakistan have had to curtail operations during the winter months or even reduce demand by as much as 60 percent from peak summer levels.
Pakistan was unlikely to buy LNG cargoes from the spot market until at least the start of winter in November due to supply and high prices, the country said in June.
Pakistan, which last bought a spot LNG cargo in late 2023, canceled a spot LNG tender for delivery in January due to oversupply and lack of buyers in Pakistan at spot prices.
Meanwhile, Mossadegh Malik denied media reports claiming that Pakistan had signed an agreement with Russia to import crude oil at subsidized rates. Reports of a crude oil deal with Russia are completely false. Malik told reporters that no such agreement has been reached with Russia.
The explanation of the federal minister has come after the news that Islamabad has decided to import Russian crude oil at discounted rates on Moscow’s offer.
Explaining the issue, the minister said that the government is not buying any crude oil from Russia. “We are creating such a framework that the consumer gets cheap oil.”
Malik also revealed that Pakistan has signed a $2.7 billion MoU with Saudi Arabia. According to the Federal Minister, seven of these MoUs have already been converted into agreements.
He said that five Saudi companies participated in the road show organized by Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) in Saudi Arabia, one of which showed interest in investing $1.7 billion in PRL. Malik further said that a road show will soon be held in Saudi Arabia for the establishment of a new refinery in Pakistan.
He said that the Ministry of Petroleum is currently working on the road show of the greenfield refinery project. The minister also revealed that an agreement has been reached with Saudi Arabia for the supply of trained personnel. Additionally, Saudi companies have shown significant interest in investing in Pakistan’s mineral sector, he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) on Wednesday clarified that no agreement or commitments have been made by PRL to import crude oil from Russia.
In a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), PRL pointed to recent news that it had agreed to import Russian crude oil at subsidized rates. “We are committed to transparency and will keep our stakeholders informed of any developments directly through our official channels,” it added.