Pakistan Seeks to Defer LNG Payments to Qatar

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has travelled to Qatar today to try and spur trade and investment for his country which has been struggling to secure LNG cargoes because of weak cash reserves.

• Pakistan, a major importer of Qatari LNG is hoping to secure deferments on payments. "We will surely seek any facility of deferred payments on our LNG deals," an aide to Sharif said.
• Pakistan on August 19 made changes in its LNG policy by removing the clause that required upcoming private LNG import terminals to provide some part of the capacity to the government.
• The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet argued that the gap between gas supply and demand in the country is widening resulting in gas load management affecting economic activities.
• Pakistan currently operates two LNG terminals, both at Port Qasim.