ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has approved the construction of five liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals by groups that include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell, aiming to triple imports and ease the country’s chronic gas shortage.
The five terminals could be in operation within two to three years, Omar Ayub Khan, Pakistan’s minister of power and petroleum, said in an interview on Friday.
Pakistan is chronically short of gas for power production and to supply manufacturers such as fertilizer makers, hobbling the country’s economy.
“It will make a significant dent in the gas shortage,” Khan said.
The groups Pakistan selected to build terminals are: Tabeer Energy, a unit of Mitsubishi Corp; Exxon and Energas; Trafigura Group and Pakistan GasPort; Shell and Engro Corp. ; and Gunvor Group and Fatima.
The identities of the five groups were reported earlier by Bloomberg.
Exxon Mobil, Shell among groups to build 5 Pakistan LNG terminals
Exxon Mobil, Shell among groups to build 5 Pakistan LNG terminals
- Terminals could be in operation within two to three years
- Pakistan is chronically short of gas for power production and to supply manufacturers
Pakistan police officer among seven killed in gun attack in northwest
- Chief Minister Sohail Afridi says sacrifices of slain officers will not go in vain
- Security forces kill four militants in a separate operation in Dera Ismail Khan
PESHAWAR: A senior police officer and six others were killed when gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said on Tuesday, as security forces separately killed four suspected militants in a nearby district.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Suhail Afridi condemned the attack in Kohat district, calling it “extremely tragic” and saying the sacrifices of the slain officers would not go in vain.
“The police are the first line of defense against terrorism and their sacrifices are unforgettable,” he said in a statement, adding that the provincial government stood in solidarity with the families of the victims and had directed authorities to ensure the best medical treatment for the injured.
According to the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asad Mahmood, Inspector Innaar Gul and other personnel were among those killed when armed assailants opened fire on their vehicle near Shakardarra
Road. Mahmood and two guards died at the scene.
Authorities said a total of seven people were killed in the attack.
APP reported additional police contingents were dispatched to the area, which was cordoned off as a search operation was launched to track down the attackers, adding that an investigation was underway.
In a separate intelligence-based operation in Dera Ismail Khan district, security forces killed four suspected militants, the military’s media wing said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said troops engaged militants at their location following reports of their presence in the area, according to Radio Pakistan.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered after an exchange of fire.
A “sanitization operation” was continuing to clear the area of any remaining militants, it said.
Militant violence has surged in parts of northwestern Pakistan in recent months, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan.
Most of these attacks are claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a proscribed militant entity that Pakistan says operates from Afghan soil across the border, though the administration in Kabul denies the allegation, saying Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal matter.
