News Desk
The Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar has said that the ten year Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) contract signed with Qatar is thirty one percent cheaper compared to the previous agreements.
According to media reports, the Special Assistant has made these remarks while addressing a news conference after the signing ceremony in Islamabad on Friday.
The Special Assistant on Petroleum has said that it is the lowest publicly disclosed LNG contract in terms of price in the world. He said this deal will help the country save three hundred and sixteen million rupees annually and will make a difference of three billion dollars for ten years.
Nadeem Babar further stated that the previous agreement with Qatar was for fifteen years under which the price was fixed for ten years. He said the new agreement however envisages price reopening after four years.
“Under the previous agreement, the letter of credit worth 170 million dollars was given to Qatar but under the new arrangement eighty four million rupees will be given to the fraternal country,” he said, adding that under the new agreement, Pakistan will receive two LNG ships on average per month and in a period of three years, the number of ships will increase to four.
SAPM Nadeem Babar added that the new agreement will be effective from January next year. However, there is a provision that the country can get the LNG by the end of this year.