Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan and Qatar`s Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi signed the agreement. Pakistan`s military rulers played a crucial role in reaching the deal, and this fact was revealed in an official document that makes it clear that the origin of Qatar`s latest offer is based on the joint efforts of Pakistan`s political and military leaders at the highest level. Islamabad: Pakistan has signed a new ten-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) agreement with Qatar at a significantly lower price than the previous agreement. QP is expected to win an international partner from the oil company for its North Field expansion project later in 2021 to leverage the marketing reach of the majors and has signed agreements to raise a total of $16.2 million in 2019-20. t/a to reserve the transport capacity of three European LNG export terminals to increase revenues in Europe. ISLAMABAD/ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Pakistan said on Wednesday it had signed a 15-year deal to import up to 3.75 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year from Qatar, an important step towards covering Pakistan`s energy deficit. According to Pakistan Radio, Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the signing ceremony of the agreement. Meanwhile, Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi called the LNG deal historic for both countries. Similarly, the Prime Minister`s Special Assistant for Oil, Nadeem Babar, said the new agreement signed with Qatar was favorable and met the country`s needs. Pakistan and Qatar on Friday signed a ten-year agreement on liquefied nitrogen gas (LNG), under which Doha will supply Islamabad with three million tonnes of gas for ten years. The new agreement was signed about 31 percent less than the 2015 contract by the previous PML-N agreement, said the Prime Minister`s Special Assistant (SAPM) for oil, Nadeem Babar. On February 26, Qatar Petroleum (QP, a government company) signed a purchase agreement with Pakistan for the supply of 3 million tons/year (t/year) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 10 years from January 2022.

We are confident that the exceptional reliability of our LNG supplies will provide PSO with the flexibility and security of supply needed to drive Pakistan`s impressive growth. Babar described the new changes and said the letters of credit (LC) had been reduced to $84 million from $170 million previously. The agreement was reached after a year of negotiations between the leaders of Pakistan and Qatar. The deal is important because it involves a new willingness on Qatar to compromise on prices to attract long-term buyers to the huge volumes of its LNG that are expected to hit the market over the next seven years, both through the expiration of existing supply contracts and a planned 64% expansion of production capacity to 126 million tons/year by 2027. QP`s 15-year contract signed in 2016 with the Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO, the counterpart in the two deals) for the supply of 3.75 million tonnes/year was controversial as the new Pakistani government elected in 2018 accused its predecessor of paying too much but failed attempts at renegotiation. According to an earlier agreement with the PML-N government, he said, Pakistan is expected to open L/C and tap on $175 million a year, but under the new deal, the country will now spend $85 billion a year on L/C. The companies signed the purchase agreement (SPA) in Islamabad. QP President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi and PSO CEO and CEO Syed Taha have reached the agreement. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Qatar`s Ambassador to Pakistan Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also attended the ceremony.

“This is the lowest publicly announced [LNG] contract in the world,” he said. Under the new treaty, Pakistan would pay about $316 million less than a previous deal and save about $3 billion in LNG imports over the next 10 years. SAPM OIL said Pakistan managed the deal at 10.20% of Brent, which is the lowest price publicly disclosed. Under the new agreement, the two expensive cargoes, or 13.37% of available Brent, will be replaced by new vessels from Qatar at 10.20% Brent, and in 2023 another cargo per month will be added, and in 2024, the fourth LNG vessel per month will be added, so that in three years the number of LNG cargoes will increase to four per month. The deal will last 10 years, QP said, from 2022 until the end of 2031. The company signed the agreement with the Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO). Under the agreement, which will enter into force in January 2022, Pakistan will import liquefied natural gas or LNG from Qatar at a reduced price of about 31 percent, compared to the previous agreement, signed in 2015 for 15 years. At the time, Islamabad`s agreement to pay a higher price drew criticism from experts. “This agreement further expands Qatar`s long-standing LNG supply relationship with Pakistan” and continues Qatar`s contributions to “meet Pakistan`s growing energy needs,” Al-Kaabi said. “With a well-established gas market and distribution system, Pakistan is a strategically important market for Qatar LNG.”