Pakistan buys spot LNG cargo for mid-May from Vitol

(Reuters) - Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) purchased a spot LNG cargo for May 17-18 delivery from Vitol, which had offered $23.13/MMbtu for the LNG in a tender, an industry source said. 

The deal marks the fifth spot cargo picked up by PLL, a public sector entity operating under the Pakistani government, as the country seeks fuel to meet rising local demand ahead of summer. Last week, PLL picked up four out of seven spot cargoes it had sought for May and June through tenders. But it did not finalize the purchase of a cargo for May 17-18 delivery, for which Vitol had made the lowest offer of $31.77/MMbtu. 

PLL tendered again this week for the May 17-18 date, which attracted three offers: Total Energies at $25.2/MMbtu, PetroChina International at $25.23/MMbtu and Vitol Bahrain at $23.1297/MMbtu, bid documents on PLL's website showed.

There was no immediate response from PLL to a Reuters query on the tender.

PLL has a mandate from the government to procure LNG from international markets and manage the supply chain from procurement onwards to meet local demand.

Pakistan has experienced a rise in LNG consumption in recent years, particularly in its power sector as it looks to move away from oil.

Recently, however, the country has increased oil consumption after LNG suppliers on long-term contracts have cancelled cargoes in a volatile LNG market. 

(Reporting by Gibran Peshimam Editing by Jason Neely, David Goodman and Jane Merriman)

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