US-backed group proposes $4.4 billion LNG terminal, storage and pipeline at Port Qasim

A consortium backed by US companies has proposed a $4.4 billion integrated LNG project at Port Qasim, Karachi: an import terminal, Pakistan's first LNG storage tanks and a 1,100km gas pipeline upcountry, Dawn reported on Monday, citing documents it had seen. At Rs 276.75 a dollar that is about Rs 1.22 trillion.

It comes a week after Lucky Group and QatarEnergy's Energas gave up their own Port Qasim LNG terminal, as we reported on 26 October.

What the Port Qasim LNG project would build

Phase 1, $1.7 billion: an LNG terminal with four storage tanks of 140,000 cubic metres each (560,000 cubic metres in all) and about 35 BCF of gas a year passing through.

Phase 2: a 1,100km pipeline, 42 to 48 inches wide, carrying about 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas a day from Karachi upcountry. Both phases together come to $4.4 billion.

The sponsors pitch it as a South Asian LNG storage and trading hub for US and Middle Eastern suppliers. Port Qasim's appeal, Dawn noted, is that it sits outside the Strait of Hormuz, where Gulf shipping has been disrupted by the Iran war.

Who is behind it

• Global Vision Energy Partners (GVEP): 26%
• General Mediterranean Holding (Luxembourg): 24%
• Khanjee Holdings: 20%
• Strategic co-investors: 20%
• Pakistani investors: up to 10%, with an indicative minimum of $50 million each

Phase 1 would be financed 70% debt and 30% equity. Possible co-investors named in the documents include KKR, Blackstone, Grey Rock, Saudi Arabia's PIF and the Kuwait Investment Authority, but none of these is binding yet.

The project has been accepted for consideration by the US Trade and Development Agency and could get partial finance from the US Development Finance Corporation and guarantees from the US Export-Import Bank.

Where approvals stand

According to Dawn, the Port Qasim Authority has agreed to the site, an application for a provisional licence is with OGRA, a special purpose company has been set up, and the Maritime Affairs ministry and Petroleum Division have offered facilitation. No construction or completion dates were given.

What it would charge

Proposed tariffs are $4.93 per mmBtu for terminal and storage, and $1.91 per mmBtu for transmission for the first 10 years, then $0.92. Gas would be sold to large buyers on a merchant basis, not through one government-backed contract. OGRA must approve regasification tariffs for the domestic market.

What it means for gas users

Pakistan's gas shortage is the reason SNGPL has extended its ban on new connections indefinitely, as we reported on 1 November. Storage would let importers buy cargoes when prices are low and hold them for winter. Our gas bill calculator shows what current OGRA prices mean for a household bill.