Pakistan commences pipeline project to import LNG from China

Pakistan has started construction of a 700km liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline to import fuel from China.

The announcement was made by Pakistan Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while speaking to Voice of America.

The pipeline construction will be jointly funded by Pakistan and China.

Financial assistance from China is also expected to assist Pakistan in the completion of its Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project.

The country had been trying to meet its energy deficits by importing gas from Iran. Economic sanctions on Iran had however been preventing the attempts, Abbasi said.

Pakistan intends to import gas worth nearly $2.5bn from Iran per year.

Expected to be fully operational by 2020, the pipeline is likely to deliver 750 million ft³ of gas per day.

Abbasi was cited by the Financial Times as saying that the country presently suffers from a deficit of 2 billion ft³ of gas per day, which rises to 2.5 billion ft³ per day during winter months.

Pakistan plans to use its southwestern Gwadar port as the central hub for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The project will involve setting up of two pipelines, one of which will connect Gwadar to the city of Nawabshah, and the second will join Gwadar to the Iranian border.

According to Abbasi, at least 250 million ft³, which accounts for one-third of the pipeline’s capacity, is likely to start flowing within 2017.