Vopak Expands Share in Pakistan’s LNG Terminal
Illustration; Image Courtesy: LNG Carriers/ Flickr-Kees Torn under CC BY-SA 2.0 license
Tank storage company Royal Vopak is to acquire 44% in Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd (ETPL) in separate transactions with International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Engro Corporation.
This includes the acquisition of a 29% share announced in July 2018 when Vopak bought the stake in ETPL from Engro Corporation.
ETPL’s wholly owned subsidiary, Engro Elengy Terminal (Pvt) Ltd (EETPL) owns an LNG facility which is located in Port Qasim in Pakistan, adjacent to the Engro Vopak chemical terminal on the mainland side of the channel into Port Qasim. The facility has been in operation since 2015 and is the first LNG import facility in Pakistan.
The facility consists of an LNG jetty including a 7.5 km high pressure gas pipeline. This pipeline is connected to the grid of EETPL’s sole customer Sui Southern Gas Company, a Pakistan government-owned entity. EETPL holds a 15-year floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) time charter.
The liquefied gas is supplied, under long-term contracts, via LNG carriers from various exporting countries to the FSRU, which is moored to the EETPL jetty and connected to its pipeline. The regasification takes place on the FSRU and the gas is transferred to the mainland.
Following the completion of the transaction, the shareholders in ETPL will be Engro Corporation and Royal Vopak.
As informed, the acquisition is subject to certain conditions and closing is anticipated to take place in the first quarter of 2019. The first transaction is still planned to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018.
