Govt to set up new LNG terminal at Port Qasim 

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to construct a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at Port Qasim, Karachi, setting aside the concerns/reports of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Port Qasim Authority with regard to the feasibility of the terminal.

Sources privy to the development informed Pakistan Today that despite concerns presented by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Port Qasim Authority regarding issues arising from the construction of LNG terminals at Port Qasim, the government is all set to construct new LNG terminal in the main channel at Port Qasim.

Sources said the Ministry of Maritime Affairs had earlier declared the construction of the current LNG terminals, Engro and Pakistan Gas Port Consortium (PGPC), as wrong, causing heavy losses to the national exchequer. The permission to construct these two LNG terminals was awarded allegedly to benefit the Engro and the PGPC, while shipping firms were receiving exorbitant demurrage charges, thus wasting the precious remittances, sources added. "Presence of these two LNG terminals has been causing serious security threats for the port."

They said that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had earlier directed the ministry to carry out a feasibility study in consultation with the Petroleum Division to assess the requirement for setting up new LNG terminals in the country and also to carry out a cost-benefit analysis/study for shifting of existing LNG terminals to suitable places.