Pakistan to buy LNG Cargo every month from Azerbaijan

Karachi: Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, revealed on Saturday that Pakistan would be purchasing a monthly spot cargo of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Azerbaijan. 

Musadik Malik disclosed that a historic LNG agreement between Pakistan and Azerbaijan is scheduled to be signed on July 24. Additionally, Pakistan plans to procure 12 LNG cargo ships from Azerbaijan.

In another significant development, Malik shared that a $14 billion investment agreement with Saudi Arabia in the refinery sector is also in the pipeline and will be finalized before the current government's term comes to an end.

During his conversation with journalists in Karachi, Malik expressed his opposition to providing cheap gas to the fertiliser sector. He advocated redirecting subsidies from the fertiliser industry to farmers directly and proposed reevaluating the existing agreements with the fertiliser sector to ensure a more equitable and efficient system.

The government is keen on implementing a new policy to provide cheap LNG to industries and has planned a meeting with industrialists to discuss the details and benefits of this initiative, as stated by the minister.

Furthermore, Malik brought attention to the widespread smuggling of petrol and diesel in the country, revealing that this illegal practice has led to losses of up to Rs120 billion for Pakistan.