The 2009-built 216,200-cbm LNG carrier, owned by Nakilat and chartered by QatarEnergy LNG, was on Sunday morning local time sailing in the Gulf of Oman, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows.
Al Kharaitiyat loaded a cargo at QatarEnergy’s giant LNG complex last month, and it is expected to arrive at Pakistan’s Port Qasim, where two FSRU-based terminals are located, on Monday, the data shows.
This could be the first Qatari LNG cargo to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the Middle East conflict between Israel and the US on one side and Iran on the other on February 28.
QatarEnergy previously announced that it expects the damage to its Ras Laffan complex caused by missile strikes from Iran to cost about $20 billion a year in lost revenue and to take up to five years to repair, impacting supply to markets in Europe and Asia.
QatarEnergy stopped producing LNG at its giant Ras Laffan complex on March 2 due to military attacks on its operating facilities. The LNG producer declared force majeure to its affected LNG buyers on March 4.
Pakistan has been buying expensive spot LNG supplies to secure fuel for its power plants, as it mostly buys LNG under long-term contracts from Qatar.
State-owned Pakistan LNG recently released a new tender inviting firms to submit bids for two spot LNG shipments with delivery windows May 12-14 and May 24–26.
Pakistan LNG’s evaluation report posted on its website shows that it received seven bids, three for the first cargo and four for the second cargo.
BP Singapore and TotalEnergies Gas & Power submnitted the lowest offers at 17.2848 per MMBtu and 16.980 per MMBtu.
Local media reports suggest that Pakistan decided to reject these offers.
In addition, Pakistan LNG released a new tender on Saturday for two spot LNG cargoes with delivery dates May 12-16 and May 24-28.
This tender closes on May 11.