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Qatar has assured Pakistan of making LNG available to it at favourable volumes and price provided that Islamabad first builds LNG terminals to receive the import on its own, a senior Pakistani government official told the media yesterday. |
Shahbaz Sharif, who is the younger brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the chief minister of the Punjab province, arrived in Doha early yesterday from China on a one-day visit firstly to convey Pakistan’s congratulations on the smooth transition of power in Qatar; and secondly to move the stalled LNG import talks forward on an urgent basis.
Sharif was accompanied by two senior officials, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif.
Sharif and his delegation met HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani and HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada.
The Energy Minister also hosted an afternoon luncheon meeting for the delegation.
About the progress made in the LNG talks, Sharif said that many positive developments had been made and actually the onus had now been put on the Pakistani leadership to build the necessary infrastructure as soon as possible to make the deal a reality.
“We had a detailed meeting with the energy minister here. HE al-Sada pointed out that gas availability is an important issue, but more importantly Pakistan should first take steps to build the LNG stations immediately. He advised us to build ‘floating’ [terminal] stations which can be built and operated quickly [within six months], instead of permanent stations [that require at least a year-and-a-half],” he said.
Sharif said that the delegation agreed with the advice and would work on this suggestion on an ‘emergency basis’ .
“We need to work on this on an emergency basis so that we can tell the suppliers of the world that we are serious players and serious buyers.”
The delegation members blamed the previous Gen Musharraf and Pakistan People’s Party governments for their ‘criminal neglect’ over the last decade in overcoming this crisis, especially given that these terminals could have been built in the past too, but they alleged that they were not built in order to profit from the resulting crises.
When asked why Qatar had not offered to build the terminals for Pakistan, Sharif claimed that previously too this was the suggested model. “People who say that Qatari government had offered to build these terminals were not being honest. Even today, they told us very clearly that we can talk about the gas volumes and price but as a supplier they don’t build terminals as an investor in the receiving countries. They used to do that when LNG was not a popular energy choice,” he said.
He pointed out that now both sides know of the focal point people with whom they could follow up on the LNG deal and, electricity projects.
Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the actual demand in Pakistan for LNG was between 10 and 12mn tonnes per year.
“At the moment, however, we are in talks to negotiate for 2mn tonnes per year. We are hopeful to see a major headway soon,” he said.
Once Pakistan builds its terminals, it would have options to buy gas from other countries, including Muscat, US, Australia and African countries such as Tanzania. However, due to proximity, Qatar is expected to provide the best deal since even the transportation cost would be the cheapest.
Shahbaz Sharif said that he had also floated the idea of building a 5,000MW coal-based power plant in Karachi and hoped to secure investments from Qatar. “We will make the pre-feasibility report on this project and make it available to them, which we hope they will study. This we will finalise not in years but in months, Inshallah.”
Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif added that there were no quick fixes to raise the power generation capacity in Pakistan, which is currently facing a shortfall of at least 6,000MW.
Sharif said the Pakistan government realised that they had to tackle terrorism head on in order to attract investments in the country.
“We will have to control terrorism. There is a new government in Pakistan today, it’s been only one month. We will take steps on a fast track to deal with terrorism. We are organising an APC on terrorism in Islamabad soon. We will also make changes in our law enforcement authorities, acquire new gadgetry and cameras, etc.
“This is a problem that will not go away overnight. To handle it, we will need to take some concrete steps. And I want to assure everyone that we will take all measures and options to deal with this menace.”
Sharif said that he had been assured by HH the Emir that Qatar would make investments in Pakistan in “projects that are economically viable and feasible.”
Earlier, he wished HH the Emir success and praised HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani for his visionary leadership that made Qatar a progressive and important country on the world map.
The chief minister of Punjab also expressed his gratitude to HH the Emir for looking after the welfare of Pakistanis.
“HH the Emir himself told me that by December this year, they would provide more work opportunities and hence more visas for Pakistanis,” he said.
Sharif on behalf of the Pakistani Prime Minister also extended an invitation to HH the Emir, HE the Prime Minister and HE the Energy Minister of Qatar to visit Pakistan soon.
Later, Sharif and his delegation met senior Pakistani engineers from the oil and gas sectors, and asked for their input to pull the country out of the crisis.
