Only 2 Qatari LNG cargoes in October, against 8 a year ago; LNG power down 56%

Pakistan has received only two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from Qatar so far in October, against eight in the same month last year, ARY News reported on Thursday. The first docked at Port Qasim on 13 October and the second berthed at the Pakistan GasPort terminal on 21 October.

The slowdown is not new. Since March, Pakistan has imported 20 LNG cargoes, compared with 72 over the same period a year earlier, ARY reported, citing a report it did not name. Electricity generated from LNG fell 56% year on year in September.

The numbers

ARY did not give a reason for the drop. Earlier this month the government said it had planned 18 cargoes for the winter, Qatar first, with local gas production near 1.4 billion cubic feet a day; our report on the winter LNG plan has the month-by-month schedule. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb also said Pakistan had energy to last through November and would buy spot cargoes only in "dire need", as we reported on 17 October.

What it means for you

• Gas at home: less imported LNG leaves the system more dependent on falling local gas, which is why gas companies ration supply to homes in winter, mostly at cooking times. Check what your next bill will be on our gas bill calculator.
• Electricity: LNG-fired plants produced far less power in September. When they run less, the grid leans on other fuels, which feeds into the fuel charges added to bills. Our electricity bill calculator shows the bill at your slab.
• Karachi: K-Electric cut extra load shedding when RLNG supply returned earlier this month, as we reported on 14 October. Any shortfall in cargoes is the first thing to watch if outages return.

We will update this story when the Petroleum Division or the LNG importers publish the November cargo schedule.