Pakistan is expected to receive a Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo within the next three to five days, as a vessel carrying the shipment has crossed the Strait of Hormuz and reached Omani waters. The LNG vessel, Al Mafyar, arrived in Omani waters on Tuesday after successfully crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
As the vessel is a large Q-Max carrier, the LNG is expected to be transferred en route to a relatively smaller vessel, possibly named Ejnan, which could then arrive in Pakistan within the next three to five days, top officials privy to the development have said.
"This is the first LNG cargo that Pakistan has arranged from Qatar with the reported assistance of Iranian authorities. Pakistan is likely to arrange two smaller LNG vessels through ship-to-ship transfers from the Q-Max carrier.
A third LNG cargo is also expected to be arranged for Pakistan soon," officials added. QatarEnergy has already extended its force majeure until November.
However, Pakistani authorities managed to arrange the cargo at a price equivalent to 13.37% of Brent after contacting Iran's senior leadership. If Pakistan manages to secure two more cargoes for October, there will be no immediate need to procure additional spot LNG during the month.
Spot LNG is currently available in the range of $28 to $30 per MMBtu, meaning a single cargo could cost around $100 million - an exceptionally high burden for a country like Pakistan. In September, Pakistan arranged two LNG cargoes from Qatar; one arrived on 10 September, while the second reached the country on 23 September.
The possibility of a prolonged force majeure by QatarEnergy has raised serious concerns over whether Pakistan will be able to secure the required number of LNG cargoes during the critical winter months.