Pakistan projects to empower its position in the global LNG market and anticipates to be included in the top five of the world’s top buyers of LNG in the forthcoming years . Country’s Petroleum Minister expects imports to show a significant increase due to new LNG terminals built by many private companies.
The Minister revealed country’s ambitious plans to Reuters where he was quoted as saying that ”imports could top 30 million tonnes by 2022, up from just 4.5 million tonnes currently.”
This increase is anticipated to occur within the next five years, however, there are doubts whether it is feasible, considering that imports currently are estimated at 4.5 million tonnes.
The Minister supported that now Pakistan has moved forward supporting its energy system in this alternative fuel. Ten years ago, no one would consider Pakistan would be in favor of LNG but the current landscape has totally changed. There are many investments for LNG terminals and gas plants in the county and many LNG suppliers have shown their interest.
Pakistan built its first LNG terminal two years ago and a second terminal is due to be completed by the end of October 2017. The Minister also said that major companies are leading a consortium making plans for a third LNG terminal within this year.
The news agency comments that ”if Pakistan achieves its ambitious development goals, it could significantly erode market oversupply”.