KARACHI: A shipment of 147,000 cubic feet of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar arrived at the Karachi anchorage today in a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU).

The FSRU, after going through clearance, is expected to dock at Engro Corporation's Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL), where the cargo will undergo 'regasification' before being injected into the Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) network.

The FSRU will take approximately five hours to reach the terminal, and will begin offloading the cargo at 6:30pm this evening, an official said.

The SSGCL is then required to transfer it to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) at the Zamzama-Sawan gas establishment.

The LNG will initially be provided to four Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Punjab, including Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco).

In the second phase of the operation, fuel will be used for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and in the third, it will be supplied to the fertiliser sector.

Subsequent shipments of LNG will be transported in Qatargas' Q-Flex carrier.

Confusion persists over the liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with Qatar as the government has not yet disclosed the per MMBTU price of gas.

Under the $22 billion reported deal, Qatar agreed to supply 500 million cubic feet of LNG per day for 15 years. However, there was no official word on LNG deal and details about the rate of the purchase and sale price.

Read more: Confusion over price of LNG from Qatar

Concerns over the specifications of the terminal were raised by Qatargas with the Port Qasim Authorities (PQA) at a meeting on March 9. Qatargas officials said a series of steps were required to be completed by PQA “as soon as possible in order for the terminal to be accessible”.

The terminal required additional dredging in order to facilitate the Q-Flex carrier. The ongoing modifications are not going to hamper the transfer of the first shipment of LNG to the Elengy terminal.

Modifications at the terminal are underway and are expected to be complete within the next few days.

Chairman Port Qasim Authority Agha Jan Akhtar told DawnNews that the import of LNG was a joint venture between the public and private sector.

"The first ship is here and LNG will keep on coming in ... The system will be supplied, on a daily basis, with the same amount of gas a large gas field is capable of producing," he said.

"The Sui Southern Gas Company will open a tender for a second terminal in Port Qasim. The construction of both terminals will, to a large extent, resolve the problem of gas shortage in Pakistan," he concluded.

Shaikh Imran-ul-Haq CEO of ETPL added "The FSRU will stay here for 15 years, during which time it will also be audited."

Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is expected to reach Karachi by tonight, and will visit Port Qasim tomorrow

Read more: Qatargas raises alarm over constraints at Port Qasim