KARACHI: The Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL), a state-owned entity mandated to procure and import liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the country, was “forced” to buy four LNG cargoes for more than $15 per million British thermal units (MMBTU), constituting the most expensive purchase of the commodity since Pakistan started importing it in 2015, said the energy ministry in a statement on Friday.
“The PLL Board was forced to accept the 4 LNG ‘spot’ tenders [at $15 per MMBTU] for September 2021,” the ministry said in an official statement.
Alternatively, it added, the country would have used furnace oil as the replacement fuel for electricity generation which would have raised the power prices by at least 20 percent in September.
The ministry maintained that diesel was yet another option, but it would have made electricity almost 50 percent more expensive.
After weighing different possibilities, the statement continued, the country decided to opt for “the lesser of the two evils.”
Pakistan procures about one-third of its LNG through spot trading while the remaining two-third is done through long-term contracts.
Earlier this year, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration signed a long-term agreement with Qatar for additional 200 million cubic feet a day (MMCFD) of LNG, saying it had concluded the deal at about 31 percent lower rate than the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s 2015 contract with Doha for 500mmcfd of gas.
Commenting on the two deals, the former finance minister under the PML-N administration, Miftah Ismail, said despite the government’s claims, people would pay a much higher price for the new LNG import.
“This month, the people of Pakistan will pay $8 per MMBTU for at least three LNG cargoes contracted by the PML-N government while the government is paying $15 for four cargoes,” he told Arab News.
“That is about $22.5 million per cargo,” he added. “Since the government is buying four cargos, it will be paying around $95 million extra.”
However, the energy ministry responded by saying that “no one, without a crystal ball, can perfectly time or beat an international commodity market.”
It added that Pakistan could opt of 100 percent long-term contract purchases as a matter of policy, though the mechanism would still not be without its "opportunity cost" since spot LNG prices could fall in the international market at any stage.
Pakistan 'forced' to buy expensive LNG to cut electricity cost — energy ministry
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Pakistan 'forced' to buy expensive LNG to cut electricity cost — energy ministry
- The country imported four liquefied natural gas cargoes this week at the highest rate it has ever paid since 2015
- Pakistan procures about one-third of its LNG through spot trading while the remaining two-third is done through long-term contracts
Government says Pakistan preparing Cyber Security Act as digital expansion raises risks
- The proposed legislation will create Cyber Security Authority to oversee the country's cyber defenses
- IT minister warns misuse of genetic and digital data could enable targeted cyber and biological threats
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is preparing a Cyber Security Act and a dedicated regulatory authority to strengthen defenses against rising digital threats as the country rapidly digitizes government services and economic systems, IT Minister Shaza Fatima said while addressing a ceremony in the federal capital on Wednesday.
The planned legislation is part of Islamabad’s broader “Digital Nation Pakistan” initiative, which aims to expand e-governance, a cashless economy and online public services while safeguarding national cyber infrastructure.
“The more we move toward digitization, with the kind of opportunities that are opening up for us, it is also bringing an equal, or even greater, set of challenges,” the minister said. “This does not mean that we stop digitization. It means that we must make our cybersecurity systems robust.”
She said Pakistan had already activated its National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and provincial CERTs to detect and respond to cyber incidents, while a multi-agency digital monitoring framework known as the National Threat Intelligence System (NTIS) operates around the clock.
“We have a Cyber Security Act coming up, under which a Cyber Security Authority will be established.”
The minister said cybersecurity was not a “generic” concept and required multiple technical specializations as well as comprehensive monitoring and regulation. She warned that the rapid expansion of data-driven technologies was creating new risks even as it opened opportunities in areas such as health and biotechnology.
Referring to advances in genomics and precision medicine, she said the same technologies that help treat diseases could also pose security risks if sensitive biological data were misused. She warned that access to large-scale genetic data could potentially allow hostile actors to develop targeted viruses or other biological threats against populations.
The minister also highlighted Pakistan’s cyber defense capabilities, saying government and military systems remained secure during last year's war with India despite sustained cyber warfare attempts.
She said multiple institutions, including the IT ministry, the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), national cybersecurity teams and the armed forces’ cyber command structures, worked together to defend critical systems.
“Despite that massive war ... we did not face a single communication breakdown and we did not allow any penetration into our government systems,” she said, adding that the experience demonstrated the need to further strengthen cybersecurity coordination across institutions.
