Azerbaijan interested in Pakistan’s LNG tender

By Azernews

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan is among the countries that are interested in Pakistan's tenders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, Reuters reported citing Adnan Gilani, head of Pakistan LNG, a new state-owned company set up to manage procurement and supply of gas.

“Pakistan plans to issue two international tenders for 750,000 tons per year of liquefied natural gas each in the coming month,” he said, adding that firms from Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Qatar, the U.S. and Azerbaijan are interested in the tenders.

"We had over half a dozen participants bidding in our last international tender and expect more than twice that number this time around," Gilani said. He also added that the specifics of the tenders are being finalized, but they will probably be a 5-year and a 15-year offer.  Gilani said that Pakistan would also negotiate separate intergovernmental LNG deals.

The Pakistani newspaper express tribune earlier reported that Baku and Islamabad agreed to ink intergovernmental deals in various fields, including supply of electricity, crude and refined oil products, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and LNG. The agreement was reached during the two-day 6th Session of Azerbaijan-Pakistan joint commission in Islamabad.

Both sides decided to jointly evaluate the possibility and support of the sides in oil and gas exploration and development projects in Azerbaijan and Pakistan. The two countries also agreed to facilitate talks and ink a MoU between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO). SOCAR Trading S.A, SOCAR`s wholly owned affiliate would execute the relevant activities in the country.

Pakistan became the second country after Turkey which recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on December 12, 1991. The diplomatic relations between two countries were established on June 9, 1992. 

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.