Reported by Tribune
This summer Pakistan decided not to buy LNG from the Spot market until at least November, as stated by Petroleum Minister Malik
Spot Market is where commodities are traded for immediate delivery.
This decision is mainly due to two major issues: High Prices and Oversupply of LNG.
In Asia, there has been an extremely high temperature which drives the increase in demand for electricity. The high demand for electricity means a high demand for LNG. Ultimately increasing its price
“Any country that is importing $15-18 billion of fuel, how can it be sustainable when the total exports are south of $30 billion? So we have to move away from the imported elements such as LNG,” he said.
Along with this, there has been enough supply of LNG in Pakistan. This is the result of Pakistan’s long-term contracts which leaves no room to buy more gas.
“The question of getting more LNG when we can’t sell the amount of LNG that we already are obtaining from our long-term contracts, it does not apply,” the minister told Reuters in an interview.
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Additionally, he addressed that Pakistan is trying to access less expensive sources of gas by working on various projects like building a pipeline with Iran
“We basically are trying to work out the solution whereby we can have access to less expensive gas, but in a manner which does not invoke any sanctions on Pakistan. It all depends on legal interpretations,” he said.
“From our perspective, we don’t want to get into litigation and we don’t want to get sanctioned.”
