The Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, announced recently that Pakistan would import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from China for which Pakistan is constructing a 700-km pipeline. But question is do Shahid Khaqan Abassi, and his team at the Ministry of Petroleum have plans to improve distribution and set and regulate prices? LNG is coming from Qatar, gas from Iran, China is building power plants, and over the last year oil prices have fallen thanks to the shale oil boom in the US. What have we achieved from all this? Fewer power outages? Lower petrol and gas prices?Every few days, there are reports in the papers of IMF funds being released or the Asian Development Bank pledging money. The ADB in February said it was supporting efforts to help Pakistan build its first liquefied natural gas terminal with a $30 million loan. With the LNG facility, the bank said the Pakistan government would save about $1 billion per year on its fuel import bills. But how much will we have to pay back in debt? Furthermore when it comes to import LNG from China, there are certain things. First, China is not a country that exports LNG. On the contrary, it imports it. China’s total demand of natural gas last year was 178.6 billion cubic metre (bcm), which was met with 127.9 bcm locally produced and 50.7 bcm imported gas (including 27 bcm LNG). The demand of natural gas in China is increasing rapidly, projected to be 400 bcm per year by 2020. China has recently concluded an agreement with Russia for the import of 38 bcm LNG during this year. Second, and most importantly, LNG is not and cannot be transported through a pipeline. LNG is a natural gas in a liquid state, cooled to minus 162 deg. C (minus 260 deg. F) that shrinks the volume of gas by 600 times making it easier to store and transport. The LNG carriers are double-hulled cargo ships specifically designed to handle LNG at its super-chilled temperature, equipped with state-of-the-art safety and security technology including leak detection, emergency shut-down, and advanced radar & positioning system.
pk.shafaqna.com
