Daewoo Gas has signed a master engineering, procurement construction and financing (EPCF) contract with China National Chemical Engineering Construction Company (CNCEC), to set up an offshore LNG terminal in Pakistan.

Daewoo Gas is owned by AsiaPak Investments, a private investment company based in Lahore, Pakistan, and Hong Kong. The total investment in the project including the terminal, facilities, LNG logistics and supply infrastructure, is estimated at US$300 million.

The project envisages transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) on trucks and bowsers loaded with ISO tanks rather than through a pipeline system.

The specialized LNG containers will be moved by truck all over Pakistan, where LNG will be re-gasified at client sites. Known in the industry as a virtual LNG pipeline, the system is commonly used in China.

At its peak, the terminal will handle 10,000 tonnes of LNG per day. It aims to improve Pakistan’s energy supply and reduce carbon emissions.

Under the EPCF contract, CNCEC will design, construct and finance the offshore LNG terminal, complete with topside equipment, to enable LNG filling into ISO containers.

The plan is to operationalize the terminal within a year, before the summer of 2023, at Pakistan’s LNG zone in the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan views LNG as an important transition fuel as it moves away from diesel and oil towards renewables. Daewoo Gas will help in this transition by developing a gas supply chain that is parallel to a fixed pipeline supply network, at no risk or cost to the government of Pakistan.

The specialized LNG tanker trucks will be able to serve customers in remote areas that are not connected to the national gas transmission network.

Daewoo Gas also plans to use LNG for its own long-distance bus and truck fleet operated by Daewoo Express as a substitute for more expensive and polluting diesel.