Pakistan State Oil (PSO), in consistence with its resolve to fulfil the nation's energy needs, imported large stockpiles of LNG, the state-run oil marketing firm said Thursday. PSO successfully imported 42 cargos carrying 133,307,087 mmbtu of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) since March 2015 to meet energy requirements of the country. The statistics demonstrate PSO's enhanced capability of fulfilling the nation's fuel needs in a proactive and efficient manner.
PSO imports LNG under competitive bidding and through short and long-term contracts. Earlier this year, the company also signed a 15-year agreement with Qatargas for the import of up to 3.75 million tonnes of LNG every year. Under the agreement, PSO emerged as the sole LNG buyer for Pakistan on the basis of the company's established international credibility and expertise in effectively maintaining energy supply chains.
The imported LNG is being increasingly used in power plants for electricity generation.
The proactive steps taken by PSO to timely import LNG have helped minimise the existing demand & supply gap in the natural gas sector. At present, the country's total gas production is almost 4 bcfd compared to the demand of 8 bcfd. The production is expected to take a further dip in coming years due to depletion of existing gas reserves swelling the shortfall.