ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday said that the deal sealed with Qatar for import of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) at the price of 4.78 dollars per mmBtu was the cheapest of its kind in South Asia.
Prime Minister’s spokesman Dr Mussaddiq Malik at a press conference said the landmark deal would save Rs 100 billion per annum and would contribute to meeting the country’s energy needs by 25 percent.
Malik said the settled price was the 13.37 percent of the brent and was cheaper than the gas to be imported through Iran-Pakistan and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline projects.
He said even the India’s LNG contract was expensive by 30-35 percent than Pakistan’s deal with Qatar. He mentioned that LNG would be cheaper than Pakistan’s indigenous gas.
He said the import of LNG from Qatar would start within 60 days. The spokesman said the cabinet in 2013 had gave the approval of the government-to-government deal between Pakistan and Qatar for LNG’s import.
He said the negotiating committee comprising members of the two countries undertook 12 rounds before agreeing at the price.
He said Pakistan had signed the contract of non-disclosure of LNG’s price till the signing of agreement, which was inked during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Qatar on Wednesday.
He said that the price of LNG was inter-linked with global oil prices and would increase or decrease accordingly.
