Pakistan Secures 6 Expensive LNG Cargoes for May-June

A fuel-strapped Pakistan has agreed in principle to take six LNG cargoes at bid prices ranging from $24.15 to $32.6 per million British Thermal Units (MMBTU) for delivery between 1 May and 22 June to cover the peak energy demand.

Bidders made 12 bids for each of the seven tenders. There was no interest in one of the June 1-2 slots, and three players offered the lowest rates for the remaining five delivery windows, which are still very high. The average basket price is expected to fall to roughly $17-18 per MMBTU due to the impact of lower long-term contract pricing with Qatar.

Eni’s last-minute defaulting led to the issuance of an emergency offer for LNG delivery on 1-2 May under special procurement procedures, sources said.

Total Energies and Vitol Bahrain returned with bids of $29.67 per MMBTU and $29.792 per MMBTU respectively, with the former as the cheapest commercial bidder.

Vitol Bahrain and QatarEnergy submitted bids of $32.59 and $24.15 per MMBTU for the 12-13 May procurement respectively.

Only one bidder — Vitol Bahrain — offered $31.778 per MMBTU for the 17-18 May timeframe and was considered the cheapest. Likewise, Vitol and TotalEnergies offered $29.056 and $26.87 per MMBTU respectively for the 27-28 May slot, and Total Energies was identified as the lowest bidder.

Vitol and QatarEnergy offered bids of $31.73 and $27.65 per MMBTU for the 6-7 June slot respectively and QatarEnergy was designated the lowest qualified contender.

Three bidders — Vitol, TotalEnergies, and OQ Trading — made bids of $31.694, $29.04, and $30.46 per MMBTU respectively, and TotalEnergies was picked for $29.04 per MMBTU.

On Monday, Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) had invited bids for six cargoes with a load of 140,000 cubic meters per cargo. As per the tender details, three LNG cargoes are being imported for May and June. It has invited bids for the 12-13 May, 17-18 May, 27-28 May, 1-2 June, 6-7 June, and 16-17 June windows.

Noe that the Singapore-based commodity trading company, Gunvor, which has a five-year contract with Pakistan, had defaulted and refused to deliver three LNG cargoes to Pakistan between April and June.