ISLAMABAD: LNG procuring company, Pakistan LNG Limited has arranged one more LNG cargo at a lower price for the month of February 2021 through an urgent tender. The price is approximately 22% lower than the price of the bidder that withdrew its bid earlier for same cargo.
The spokesman of Petroleum Division said this also puts to rest the argument that ordering very early necessarily guarantees a better price. To put things into perspective, the time period between the bid submission date and the delivery date of cargo for the recent urgent tender was 35 days as compared with 49 days for the earlier tender in the same delivery window.
Though the Petroleum Division did not mention the seller, according to international market sources since spot prices for the prompt delivery of LNG in Asia plummeted because of worries that new pandemic restrictions in China will curb fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil and gas importer, Qatar offered Pakistan a late February delivery cargo at the equivalent of $8 per MMBTU via tender on Thursday.
It may be mentioned here that the government has sought urgent tenders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries in the third and fourth week of February to fill the gap arising out of a default by Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) on its supply commitment. Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) had sought two cargoes from the international market using emergency provisions of the procurement rules. PLL had approached prospective suppliers for LNG delivery on Feb 15-16 and Feb 23-24. In such circumstances, normal tendering schedules become impractical and, therefore, bidders had been asked to submit their bids within three days i.e. latest by January 22.
