Saudi Aramco to discuss first ever LNG sale with Pakistan this week

KARACHI: A Saudi Aramco delegation visiting Pakistan this week will discuss plans by the world’s largest producer of crude oil to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan and set up a state of the art terminal, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday.
Aramco doesn’t produce any LNG currently, but in January it hired an employee from Singapore’s Pavilion Energy Pte Ltd. to develop its LNG business. Its sale to Pakistan, if it materializes, will be the first LNG sale for the world’s largest producer of crude oil. 
“The Saudis have expressed interest in selling LNG to Pakistan,” Mahmood Moulvi, an advisor at the maritime affairs ministry said on Wednesday, adding that a Saudi delegation due in Pakistan this week would also discuss setting up a state-of-the-art LNG terminal.
“The process of awarding tender for the LNG terminal will be initiated within a month”, Moulvi added. 
Sher Afgan Khan, a spokesman for the ministry of energy, said Aramco was interested in a refinery as well as LNG imports. 
LNG is the fastest-growing hydrocarbon with a growth rate of 4 percent per annum. Global LNG demand is expected to exceed 500 million tonnes per annum by 2035, up from nearly 300 million tonnes per annum in 2017.
Pakistan’s domestic gas output has plateaued in the last five years, falling to 1.46 trillion cubic feet in 2017/18, from 1.51 trillion cubic feet in 2012/2013, according to an annual report from the Petroleum Ministry.
This has led to severe gas shortages as Pakistan’s population, now at 208 million people, has risen sharply over the same period, driving fuel demand from industries and new power plants higher.
Gas demand was estimated at 6.9 billion cubic feet per day for 2017/18, according to Pakistan’s Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority, nearly 3 billion cubic feet more than daily output.
To help plug the deficit, Pakistan has built two liquefied natural gas import terminals, and demand is expected to hit 6.97 billion cubic feet a day for 2018/19, and 7.06 billion cubic feet a day in 2019/20.