Pakistan is seeking Qatar gas

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Pakistan wants to start importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar in six months, Pakistans Minister of Investment said yesterday. Qatar is the worlds largest exporter of LNG and Pakistan needs gas to feed power plants and alleviate chronic shortages of electricity.

The two countries have held talks for LNG supply, Waqar Ahmed Khan said.

A Qatari official confirmed talks had taken place but were at a very early stage.

"We hope to sign the deal soon," Khan said.

"They agreed during the talks to sell Pakistan one to two million tonnes per year, but there is no deal yet."

Pakistan is building a pipeline to receive the gas, and wants to lease a vessel that can convert the LNG back to gas offshore before pumping it into the grid, Khan said.

"We are now in negotiations with the companies that own these ships," Khan said.

The vessels will be posted in Karachi as a "short term" solution.

However at a later stage onshore facilities for the gas will be built, Investment Ministry secretary Tariq Puri.

"We still dont know what size investment is needed for these facilities, but we are looking at both short-term and long-term solutions," said Puri. Pakistan is facing a chronic power deficit of roughly 3,000 megawatts, which leads to multiple power outages during the course of a day.