PM Shehbaz to visit Azerbaijan as LNG import deal ‘finalised’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to pay a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan on June 14-15 following the announcement of deal that will see Baku provide Islamabad with one LNG cargo per month, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO), the prime minister will pay a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev.

The members of the federal cabinet representing the priority areas of cooperation with Azerbaijan will be part of the prime minister’s entourage, the Foreign Office stated.

PM Shehbaz will hold wide-ranging talks with President Ilham Aliyev on key areas of cooperation including trade, investment and energy. Regional and global issues of mutual concern and cooperation in multilateral forums will also be discussed.

“The Pakistan-Azerbaijan relationship is embedded in commonalities of faith, culture and history, and strengthened by mutual trust and convergence of views on regional and global matters,” the FO said in the statement.

Pakistan issued two tenders seeking spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday, while also announcing a deal that will see Azerbaijan provide the country with one LNG cargo per month.

Dependent on gas for power generation and running short of foreign exchange to pay for imports, the country has struggled to procure spot cargoes of LNG after global prices spiked last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leaving it to face widespread power outages.

However, Asian spot LNG prices this year have eased from record highs of $70/mmBtu hit in August, and are now trading below $10.

Pakistan LNG, a government subsidiary that procures LNG from the international market, has one tender seeking six cargoes on a delivered-ex-ship (DES) basis to Port Qasim in Karachi in October and December, according to the tenders posted online.

The delivery windows are Oct. 5-6, 20-21 and 31, and Dec. 7-8, 13-14 and 24-25. The tender will close on June 20.

Pakistan LNG’s second tender seeks three cargoes, also on DES basis to Port Qasim, for delivery windows of January 3-4, 28-29 and February 23-24. The second tender closes on July 14.

Pakistan LNG last issued a tender seeking 10 spot cargoes in July 2022, but it received no offers.

Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik told a news conference that Azerbaijan will supply an LNG cargo every month to Pakistan at a “cheaper price.”

He did not share details on the supply deal, but said that a contract had already been signed with Azerbaijan and that it will “start soon.”

Pakistan has two long-term supply deals with Qatar, one signed in 2016 for 3.75 million metric tons of LNG a year, and another signed in 2021 for 3 million metric tons a year.

It also has an annual portfolio contract with ENI for 0.75 million metric tons a year.

In 2022, Pakistan’s imports of LNG slowed to 6.93 million metric tons for the year, down from 8.23 million metric tons in 2021, according to data from data analytics group Kpler.