Pakistan purchased its most expensive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo as prices surge globally amid a surge in demand.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) bought a spot shipment for delivery on 26-27 September at a rate of $17.85 per Metric Million British thermal unit (MMBtu), according to a PSO bid award notification.
Pakistan buys one of the nation's priciest LNG cargoes amid tight global market 🇵🇰
Pakistan State Oil procured a spot shipment for Sept. 26-27 delivery at the equivalent of $17.85/mmbtu. Vitol will supply the cargo
The tender closed Aug. 20 pic.twitter.com/ylMHf23Lzk
— Stephen Stapczynski (@SStapczynski) August 31, 2021
The tender closed on 20 August, and Dutch energy company, Vitol, was awarded the bid on 30 August.
According to Bloomberg, Vitol will supply the shipment at a 24.5456% link to Brent crude oil, which is equivalent to ~$17.85/mmbtu. PSO decided not to purchase a Sept. 16-17 delivery cargo in the same tender due to a higher-than-expected offer price from Qatar Petroleum. Qatar offered the shipment at a 34.6688% link to Brent crude oil, which is equivalent to $25.22/mmbtu
PSO also re-issued a tender seeking five LNG cargoes delivery in October and November this year. The re-issue was because the bids it received were too expensive, ranging from $17.1/MMBtu to $22.6/MMBtu.
Similarly, PSO scrapped a previously issued tender for the delivery of LNG cargo on 24-25 August. Vitol offered the lowest bid at $20/MMBtu.
Asian LNG spot prices have swelled to their highest in eight years amid a surge in demand, threatening to touch $18/MMBtu earlier this August, according to a report by S&P Global Platts.
“Asia’s spot LNG trade has moved into the unchartered territory from this summer, trading for an extended time above oil-parity prices,” said Jeffrey Moore, Asia LNG manager for S&P Global Platts Analytics.
