The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum has sought the details from Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) of $16 billion long-term LNG contract with Qatar, signed on February 10, 2016.
Mohsin Aziz chaired the committee meeting. The committee has directed the relevant ministries to brief the standing committee in the next meeting regarding the Pak-Qatar LNG contract. The committee further sought details why Pakistan had inked government to government agreement with only Qatar when options with other LNG producing countries were available.
It is the first time that any parliamentary committee has sought comprehensive details of the Pak-Qatar LNG contract. The committee sought briefing on the import of LNG, details of its agreements, rates of import and supply, details of LNG terminals, agreements between the government and the terminal authorities, their productions, utilization and idle capacities on monthly basis and payments of penalties on underutilization of installed capacity.
Officials of Petroleum Division informed the committee that Pakistan has spent $3.80 billion on import of 161 LNG cargos.
The committee was further informed that price for Pak Qatar long-term LNG contract was 13.37 percent of Brent Oil.
The officials of Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) apprised the committee members that power was produced from various sources. In energy mix, gas contributes 38 percent, LNG 6 percent, furnace oil 34 percent, LPG 1 percent, coal 8 percent, wind power 10 percent.
