Energas, a consortium involving Lucky Group and QatarEnergy, has withdrawn from its plan to build a Port Qasim LNG terminal, pointing to shifts in Pakistan’s energy policy and unresolved fiscal and regulatory questions. The Port Qasim Authority (PQA), the port’s managing body, has warned that it will cancel the project’s final letter of intent (LOI) if the company does not give unconditional acceptance by 30 November 2026.
Why Energas stepped back
Energas Chairman Muhammad Ali Tabba has written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif describing a self-funded project that, he said, was launched in good faith when Pakistan’s energy needs looked different. Demand projections and government policies have since changed, he argued.
He cited a March 2025 Integrated Energy Study that indicated no new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals—plants that receive and regasify ship-borne gas—would be required for five years. He also pointed to the withdrawal in June 2021 of a five-year tax holiday for new terminals under conditions linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the lender guiding Pakistan’s fiscal programme.
Energas further said pipeline capacity, gas transportation agreements, and third-party access exemptions remained unresolved, even though the government had promised to clear those hurdles. QatarEnergy had joined as a stakeholder and committed to supply additional LNG at a rate linked to around 10.2% of Brent crude prices, a pricing formula tied to the international oil benchmark, to help keep the terminal fully used.
Fee dispute and the LOI deadline
Tabba asked the prime minister for a refund of the $2 million concession fee paid for the project. PQA rejected that request. It said the sum is a concession fee, not a refundable advance, and may be forfeited under the 2019 Project Guidelines if the project does not proceed. Approvals, studies, and financing, PQA added, were the developer’s own responsibility.
Separately, PQA has tied the fate of the final LOI to unconditional acceptance by 30 November 2026. The authority has not said the fee is already lost; it has set out the conditions under which the LOI would be cancelled and under which the fee may be forfeited.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- June 2021: The five-year tax holiday for new LNG terminals was withdrawn under IMF-linked conditions, according to Energas.
- March 2025: An Integrated Energy Study indicated no new LNG terminals would be needed for five years, Tabba said.
- 2026: Energas withdrew from the Port Qasim LNG terminal plan, citing policy and unresolved fiscal and regulatory issues.
- 30 November 2026: Deadline set by Port Qasim Authority for unconditional acceptance of the final LOI, failing which it says it will cancel that LOI.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Energas ne Port Qasim par naya LNG terminal banane ka plan chor diya hai. Company ka kehna hai ke energy policy aur rules badal gaye, is liye project aage nahi badha. Port Qasim Authority ne 30 November 2026 tak unconditional acceptance mangha hai, warna final LOI cancel ho sakti hai. Do million dollar fee wapas nahi milne ka imkan hai, kyunke PQA ke mutabiq yeh non-refundable hai.
