Pakistan awards July spot LNG cargo to TotalEnergies amid supply disruptions

State-run Pakistan LNG Ltd. (PLL) has awarded a spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to TotalEnergies for delivery during the July 10-11 window at a price of USD 17.37 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), a Ministry of Energy official told Platts on Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said PLL accepted TotalEnergies' offer after receiving two bids under its latest spot tender. BP Singapore submitted the higher bid of USD 17.968/MMBtu, according to a tender document posted on the Pakistan LNG website on July 3.

"The state-run company has accepted TotalEnergies' bid for the July 10-11 delivery window. This is the second spot LNG cargo purchased this month," the official said.

The official said Pakistan has been receiving LNG supplies from Qatar intermittently following disruptions linked to tensions in the Middle East, adding that normal contractual deliveries have yet to resume.

"Since supplies from Qatar were disrupted due to tensions in the Middle East, cargoes have been arriving intermittently and normal deliveries have yet to resume," the official said. "In May and June, five cargoes arrived from Qatar, while two spot cargoes were purchased. Two cargoes, including this latest purchase, are expected to arrive soon."

According to the tender document, Pakistan plans to import one LNG cargo of about 140,000 cubic meters on a Delivered Ex-Ship (DES) basis at Karachi's Port Qasim.

The latest purchase follows another spot LNG acquisition made less than a week earlier for delivery during the June 30-July 4 window. That cargo was bought at USD 16.73/MMBtu, according to a document posted on PLL's website.

Pakistan has increasingly turned to the spot market to supplement long-term LNG supplies, with procurement decisions driven by domestic demand and international LNG price trends.

The country typically imports nine to 10 LNG cargoes each month from Qatar under long-term supply agreements. However, disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East have affected contractual shipments, prompting Pakistan to secure additional spot cargoes.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's LNG import bill fell to USD 2.016 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year ending May 31, down from USD 3.211 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on June 16.