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By Tooba Khan and Stephen Stapczynski
Pakistan has imported its second shipment of liquefied natural gas from the Persian Gulf in a week, showing how Islamabad is leveraging its newfound geopolitical influence to ease an energy crunch.
The South Asian country received its latest cargo on Friday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, after negotiating its passage with Iran. The two shipments totaled about 160,000 tons. No other countries have received LNG that’s passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the Iran war in late February, although there are currently two gas carriers on the way to China and Japan.
Pakistan, which is facing severe fuel shortages, appears to have benefited from its role as the key mediator in talks between Tehran and Washington to end the war. The country has used its close ties with Saudi Arabia, Iran, the US and China to provide a communication channel between the parties.
“Friendly countries are helping Pakistan,” Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik told reporters on Monday. The “highest level of leadership from Pakistan, Qatar, Iran and the US made it possible for Pakistan to get LNG supply via Hormuz,” he said.
The near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a conduit for a fifth of global LNG exports — has choked supplies of the super-chilled fuel, leading to shortages across Asia. Pakistan has been particularly hard-hit, suffering from blackouts and higher energy costs that have added pressure on an already fragile economy.
Read More: Second Qatari LNG Tanker Exits Hormuz After Going Dark
Islamabad has also been using its diplomatic sway to secure other types of fuel. Pakistan bought around 6 million barrels of US crude for the first time, Malik said in a statement on Thursday. The country has also arranged diesel shipments from Kuwait routed through Hormuz.
Still, the handful of LNG shipments from Qatar is far below Pakistan’s pre-war imports. The country imported 500,000 tons of LNG in February, ship-tracking data shows.
The government is making efforts to secure additional gas, Malik said in a separate statement on Thursday, while thanking Qatar for its timely facilitation in ensuring LNG supplies.
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