The government on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that LNG import is scheduled for March 2015 but efforts are under way to materialise the project by the end of current year. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi stated during question hour that work on the country's first LNG terminal would be completed by December 2014 and LNG import is originally scheduled for March 2015.
However, he added that the government is making efforts to materialise the plan by the end of current year. The minister said import will be done through a transparent process and LNG would be used for power generation to overcome the power crisis. In a written reply to a question, he added that at present Pakistan is negotiating with Qatar only for procurement of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). However, for the import of regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG), negotiations are also under way with M/s Gail, India. Since Pakistan is facing acute shortage of natural gas, injection of RLNG in the gas network will play an important role in minimising the gas shortfall.
He said the government is also working on alternative schemes to get gas from Iran, which includes establishment of an LNG terminal at Gwadar, to be connected with the Iranian border for import of gas. On Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, he stated that the operating agreement has already been signed by the concerned countries. He said progress on this project is expected in November 2014 after a meeting of the Asian Development Bank, the main financer of the project. About IP gas pipeline, he said that China has indicated to join the IP project at any stage and added that international sanctions on Iran are major reasons for the delay in implementing the project. The minister added that expert groups of both the countries are scheduled to meet this month to workout implementation plan for the project.
The petroleum minister added that under the bilateral Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA), Pakistan segment of IP gas pipeline Project is to be completed by December 31, 2014 to start taking the contractual gas volume by January 1, 2015. He stated that under GSPA, both sides have also agreed on "take or pay" ie, if Pakistan does not take the contractual volumes of the gas from January 2015, the country would still have to pay the amount of the gas not taken. About ban on gas connections to new housing colonies, Abbasi said the ban was imposed in 2011 due to anticipated gas shortage. The ministry has moved a summary to get approval for giving new connections, he added.