Govt procures LNG at four-year lowest rate

ISLAMABAD-The Petroleum Division (PD) on Sunday shared a comparative statement about the purchase of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for a period from December-2017 to January-2021, which showed the government procured the commodity at the lowest rate for the current and next months. According to the statement placed on the official Twitter account of the Petroleum Division, the government procured as many as 12 and 11 LNG cargoes for the months of December-2020 and January-2021 at the average cost of $ 6.35 and $ 6.34 per MMBTU (Million British Thermal Unit), respectively. Making a comparison, it said, in December-2017 and January-2018 nine cargoes were purchased each in two months at the rate of $ 7.50 and $ 8.49 per MMBTU gas, respectively. While in December-2018, as many as eight LNG cargoes were acquired at the rate of $9.73 per MMBTU and 10 ships at the average cost of $ 8.82 per MMBTU in January-2019. Similarly, the Petroleum Division said, the government procured 10 and 11 cargoes in December-2019 and January-2020 at the rate of $ 7.81 and $ 7.61 per MMBTU, respectively. In a recent news release, the Petroleum Division had informed that PLL had so far secured 11 cargoes and working to arrange two more, aimed at meeting the increased gas demand of consumers in January. “With the PLL tender that has just closed, with the same average slope as of December, a total number of 11 cargoes are secured for January 2021.  The PLL is also working on making arrangements for two more cargoes for January 2021,” it added.