Global independent tank storage company Vopak will increase its pole in liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure in Pakistan, as the South Asian country turns to LNG imports to restrain energy deficit.
Royal tank storage company Vopak will acquire a 44 percent wager in total in Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd, whose subsidiary owns the South Asian nation’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility.
The attainment will involve separate connections with International Finance Corp (IFC) and Engro Corp and includes a 29 percent stake the company would buy in July. The purchase is subject to conditions including regulatory and shareholder approvals, and is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.
Elengy Terminal Pakistan’s subsidiary Engro Elengy Terminal owns an LNG facility which is located at Port Qasim in Pakistan, adjacent to the Engro Vopak chemical terminal. The facility has been in operation since 2015 and is the first LNG import facility in Pakistan.
The liquefied gas is supplied, under long-term contracts, via LNG carriers from various exporting countries to the FSRU, which is connected to its pipeline. The regasification takes place on the FSRU and the gas is transferred to the mainland where, under high pressure, it enters the grid of the customer.
Pakistan is a market with more than 200 million people and has a growing energy demand in which the share of gas is expected to increase. Gas is mainly used for power supply for the growing population, industrial usage and as feedstock for fertilizers, Vopak further added.
Solving the energy deficit is crucial to Pakistan’s onward economic growth. With the diminution of local gas resources, all sectors of the economy have been unfavorably affected.
Pakistan has the ability to ‘absorb and consume’ gas. Heavy investment into LNG infrastructure by Pakistan, coupled with global growth in LNG markets, positions the country well in the LNG/ Natural Gas supply chain. Once the transaction is completed, Elengy Terminal Pakistan’s shareholders will be Engro and Vopak.