ISLAMABAD: Energy crisis is likely to get worse as Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) failed to receive a single bid from international suppliers for the purchase of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in a tender that expired on Monday.
After a month-long deadline extension, the state-run Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) published the results of two auctions for a total of 72 LNG cargos and stated it had not received any bids. Initially, the PLL floated a tender for 72 cargos, or one cargo every month. One tender was to be issued for two lots, one for the first year (January 2023 to December 2023) and the other for the second five-year period (January 2024 to December 2028).
PLL originally issued an invitation for bids in August for 72 LNG cargoes to be delivered over a six-year term from foreign suppliers.
According to PLL, bids were requested from reputable organizations to convey cargo on a Delivered Ex-Ship basis (DES) at Port Qasim, Karachi, and suppliers had until September 14 to submit their offers.
It stated that bid documents would be accessible from August 10 to September 13, 2022.
The Pakistani procurement, which had an expiration date of October 3, saw no suppliers participate, according to PLL bid documents.
According to the documents, the corporation was looking for one shipment each month for the six-year period.
PLL was required by the Pakistani government to carry out the business of importing, buying, storing, supplying, distributing, transporting, transmitting, processing, measuring, metering, and selling natural gas, LNG, and re-gasified LNG. Each cargo was to have a volumetric quantity of 140,000m3, it added.
For the timeframe of July through September, PLL sought worldwide suppliers to submit proposals for 10 LNG cargoes.
By July 7, suppliers were invited to submit their bids. Each cargo was required to have a volumetric quantity of 140,000m3, according to PLL documentation.
Bloomberg, citing traders with knowledge of the situation, said that the state-owned LNG purchaser did not receive any bids in a $1 billion LNG purchase tender at the time. The article at the time stated that “it highlights both the scope of the worldwide fuel shortage as well as the unwillingness of suppliers to sell to a country in the depths of an economic crisis.”
Pakistan, on the other hand, is experiencing a fuel scarcity, especially in the electricity sector. The most recent development is anticipated to worsen the energy situation, particularly during the winter when there will be an increase in heating demand that would affect both families and companies.
