Asia/Pacific News
Pakistan Stops Two LNG Import Projects
Pakistan is cancelling plans for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects in the country and will instead initiate a new project, in a response to what it calls irregularities and a lack of transparency in the previous plans, Pakistani English-language paper The Nation reports.
The decision was made by the Pakistan Muslim League government, led by Prime Minister Mian Muhammed Nawaz Sharif, which came to power this year.
The previous regime, led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had designed the two projects to meet the nation's growing energy needs.
One tender was issued for 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) and the other for 400 million mmcfd, but transparency and regulatory rules were said to have been set aside in making the plans.
The government has instructed Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) to stop bids that were set to open today.
The tender process for the new project, which will involve the import of 500 mmcfd, will be done in a transparent way, with government oversight, officials said.
Government officials said in May that the government had paused its efforts to import LNG from Qatar after the Pakistani Supreme Court stopped a contract amid questions about pricing.
