Pakistan’s state LNG importer is urgently seeking to procure an LNG cargo for delivery this week, with offers due on June 29, as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains volatile amid persistent threats to tankers and reignited U.S.-Iran tensions.
Pakistan LNG, the state-owned firm, has issued an “urgent request” for LNG cargo delivery between June 30 and July 4, per a tender document cited by Bloomberg.
The Pakistani dependence on Middle Eastern LNG created a major gas supply and power crisis in March and April, when no LNG vessels were able to move out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan has relied on Qatar’s term LNG supply for years, but the war in the Middle East has led to the shutdown of Qatari LNG production and exports.
Without Qatar’s LNG, Pakistan was reeling from an intensifying energy crisis with power outages and fuel rationing.
In early May, Pakistan welcomed its first LNG cargo in almost two months as an LNG carrier docked at the GasPort terminal in what was the first relief to the energy crisis in the country. This wasn’t a vessel from the Middle East—it traveled from the United States. The Denmark-flagged LNG carrier Seapeak Magellan departed from Sabine Pass in the United States on March 31, and arrived at the Port Qasim in Pakistan on April 30.
Pakistan, which depends on the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz for its term supply of LNG, has relied on negotiating directly with Iran safe passage of LNG carriers from Qatar bound for Pakistan during the crisis.
This weekend’s flare-up in the U.S.-Iran tensions prompted Pakistan to seek alternative supply as the Hormuz route remains a risk and buyers aren’t certain if and when their cargoes would be able to transit the chokepoint.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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