Islamabad October 18 2022: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) notify Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) prices for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGP) at USD 14.785 per MMBTU for October 2022 as Pakistan is expected to receive nine LNG cargoes under long term contract.
RLNG prices decreased by 12.9 percent in dollar terms compared to the previous month for the consumers when compared to rate of USD 16.9779 per mmbtu in September 2022. Moreover, in rupee terms prices are 17.0 percent higher compared to the previous month as rupee gains nearly 5 percent in a month.
Even though spot LNG prices in Asia have been dropping in recent weeks, they are still more than 50% above that level, meaning importing spot cargoes means heavy losses.
The weekly spot price for LNG in north Asia fell to $32.50 per mmBtu in the seven days to Oct. 14, down from $34 the prior week and some 52% below the record $72.50 hit in the week to Aug. 26.
On year on year basis, RLNG prices decreased 6.3 percent for the consumers when compared to rate of USD 15.7828 per mmbtu in October 2021. However, in rupee terms prices are 19.8 percent higher compared to the same period last year.
The prices are down 6.3 percent when compared with the previous month due to lack of spot purchases.
In rupee terms the RLNG prices will be PKR 3,256 per MMBTU for October 2022 compared to PKR 2,716 in the month of October 2021.
As per the notice, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) will bring eight (8) cargoes of LNG while Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has been able to arrange only one cargo during October 2022.
Average prices of Brent for the calculation of October 2022 RLNG prices has witnessed a growth of 33.4% compared to October 2021. The Brent price used for calculation of RLNG prices for the month of October 2022 has been calculated at USD 97.66 per barrel.
The spot price in Asia is also currently below the benchmark Dutch natural gas price , which ended at 130 euros ($127.92) per megawatt hour on Monday, which is equivalent to around $37.48 per mmBtu.
This means there is still a price incentive for spot LNG cargoes to head from Asia to Europe, although Europe currently has sufficient winter gas inventories and the region’s ports are battling to offload all the LNG vessels that are arriving.
More than 35 LNG vessels are waiting to offload cargoes at European ports, which shows the pressure on the continent’s re-gasification capacity.
