Energas quits Port Qasim LNG terminal, seeks $2m fee refund
Port Qasim Authority says the concession fee is non-refundable and has given the consortium until November 30, 2026 to unconditionally accept its final letter of intent.
Energas, a consortium of the Lucky Group and QatarEnergy, has abandoned a multi-million-dollar plan to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at Port Qasim, citing fundamental changes to Pakistan's energy policy and unresolved fiscal and regulatory matters, Dawn reported.
The Port Qasim Authority has warned Energas that its final letter of intent will be terminated unless the consortium gives "unconditional acceptance" on or before November 30, 2026, together with an updated status of the project, according to Dawn. The authority said termination would also lead to forfeiture of the concession fee.
Energas chairman Muhammad Ali Tabba has written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif seeking a refund of the $2 million concession fee paid for the project, TechJuice reported. According to TechJuice, the Port Qasim Authority rejected the request, saying the fee is non-refundable under the 2019 Project Guidelines and may be forfeited if the project does not proceed.
TechJuice reported that Tabba said in the letter that the terminal was originally planned to meet Pakistan's energy needs, but that demand projections and government policies had changed since. He cited a March 2025 Integrated Energy Study indicating no new LNG terminals would be required for five years, and the withdrawal of a five-year tax holiday for new terminals in June 2021 under IMF conditions.
Energas also pointed to unresolved issues involving pipeline capacity, gas transportation agreements and third-party access exemptions, TechJuice reported.
QatarEnergy had earlier joined the project and committed to supplying additional LNG at a rate linked to around 10.2 percent of Brent crude prices, according to TechJuice, which reported that the withdrawal puts the proposed project at risk.
The plan had reached the stage of a final letter of intent. Unless Energas changes course and meets the authority's November 30 condition, the terminal project now faces cancellation and the loss of the fee already paid.
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