South Korea to start LNG supplies to energy-hungry Pakistan

South Korea’s Posco International Corporation has won a tender to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan, according to a Reuters report citing sources.

The company has offered the lowest bid of 7.9673 percent slope to Brent for the delivery of LNG cargo on September 25-26, the sources said. They added that Azerbaijan’s Socar Trading oil company had submitted the lowest bid for a September 12-13 LNG import tender.

According to an industry source, Posco’s move could mean that the South Korean company is trying to expand its third-party trading activities.

Six companies technically qualified for an import tender by Pakistan LNG to buy two cargoes for delivery in September. Those companies have qualified from among 11 offers that were placed for the tender. Gunvor Singapore, PetroChina International Singapore, Trafigura and Vitol Bahrain were the other companies that participated in the tender.

Pakistan is heavily reliant on international energy supplies, with around 80 percent of its oil demand covered through imports. Similarly, it produces less than four billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd) against the required seven bcfd. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the nation’s energy imports stood at $9.8 billion, which constituted around a quarter of total imports of $40.86 billion in the first 11 months (July-May) of the previous fiscal year (FY20).

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