State-run Sui Southern Gas Co Ltd (SSGC) has gained government approval to seek bids to build and to supply Pakistan's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, a government official said on Thursday.
"The ECC has allowed Sui Southern to go ahead with the project and issue a tender," said Ashfaque Hasan Khan, an adviser at the Finance Ministry. The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC), of the cabinet, is Pakistan's country's highest economic decision-making body. "It will be an integrated project with one company building the plant as well as supplying LNG," Khan told Reuters.
Industry sources estimate the plant's development will cost 300 million dollar to 400 million dollar, while the project cost would be more than 15 billion dollar, including a long-term LNG supply contract. The plant is expected to have an initial import capacity of 3.5 million tonnes a year of LNG. It will turn frozen LNG back into gas for piping to consumers.
"The first phase of the project is expected to provide 3.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum in 2010 and 2011," Khan said.
He said, SSGC will be allowed to expand the project in a second phase, under which it could bring in an additional 3.5 million tonnes of LNG a year by 2012 and 2013.
SSGC has already short-listed international companies, including Persian LNG, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell, ENI and several others for the project. Dutch bank ABN Amro is the financial adviser for the project.