Pakistan’s first private LNG shipment, comprising approximately 130,000 cubic meters, is scheduled to arrive at Karachi by the end of November, according to Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, chief executive officer of Universal Gas Distribution Company (UGDC).

“We have recently signed deals with world leading companies ExxonMobil and Trafigura for supply of LNG, with the ‘additional private capacity’ of Pakistan Gas Port Consortium, Ltd. (PGPC)’s terminal used for regasification and distribution,” he told the Associated Press of Pakistan. “A formula already exists under which the private sector can import LNG as per its requirements, get it injected into an existing gas transmission network and receive at industrial units.”

After injection of the privately imported LNG in distribution networks of Sui Southern Gas Company and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Paracha said, “the users of private LNG will be considered UGDC consumers, a private sector company of Pakistan.”

He added that he appreciated the government’s approval for the private sector to import LNG and set up LNG terminals in Pakistan, expressing confidence that it would help meet the country’s growing energy needs.

Paracha also welcomed the government decision to lift the ban on new gas connections for compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. He said, “It will give a new life to the CNG sector.” Paracha added that hundreds of completed CNG stations had been waiting for the gas connection for years, and these would now start operating.

With the promotion of CNG fuel, he predicted the country would be able to save around $1 billion annually on oil import bills and control air pollution in big cities. He said the CNG was an environment-friendly fuel and almost 30% as cost-effective compared to gasoline. Paracha says increasing LNG imports would help ensure uninterrupted supply to CNG stations throughout Pakistan.