Pakistan scrambles for LNG supplies as Strait of Hormuz disruption dampens supplies: Report | Today’s news
Pakistan, among the countries most affected by the conflict in the Middle East, is scrambling to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) for delivery this week as a series of attacks in The Strait of Hormuz has cut off flows, Bloomberg reported. According to the report, state-owned Pakistan LNG has issued a tender to procure shipments for delivery between June 30 and July 4, with bids due on Monday. About a fifth of global LNG supplies remain stuck behind a narrow waterway blocked by Iran and the US.
It may be recalled that earlier this month, Pakistan purchased its most expensive supply of LNG in about four years. Pakistan LNG Ltd bought a cargo for June 6-7 delivery from BP Plc at $19.1337 per million British thermal units, making it the South Asian country’s most expensive LNG purchase since 2022. Bloomberg.
Lack of energy
Pakistan has been struggling with energy shortages since the war cut off supplies from its main supplier, Qatar, forcing it to buy more expensive fuel on the spot market in the past few months.
At the beginning of this year, Pakistan imported more LNG before he could use it, Al Jazeera reported. Demand has fallen for three straight years, from a peak of 8.2 million tonnes in 2021 to 6.1 million tonnes in late 2025, as cheap solar panels flood the market and factories cut back. Then came the war.
In March, as the Iran conflict disrupted regional energy trade, Pakistan could only import LNG worth $70.2 million, down 69% from last year’s $226 million, the report said, citing the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Pakistan is dependent on Qatar for almost all of its LNG and has experienced constant outages due to severe fuel shortages since the war began in late February.
On Saturday, days after a Singapore-flagged container ship was hit, a Qatari oil ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Following the strikes, the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), which coordinates maritime and merchant shipping, raised the threat level in the region to significant. Transit of inbound and outbound LNG carriers on the waterway has since stopped, ship tracking data shows. That includes an empty LNG tanker that was heading to the Persian Gulf through the strait before it turned around on Friday. It remained in the Gulf of Oman.
Global shock
According to the International Energy Agency worldwide crude inventories have fallen by an average of 3.8 million barrels a day since the start of the war, with preliminary figures showing a significant draw of 143 million barrels in May alone.
