Pakistan Issues Emergency LNG Tender After Qatari Cargo Turns Back at Hormuz

The Immediate Problem

A vessel carrying a Qatari LNG cargo scheduled for delivery to Pakistan this month turned back without completing its Hormuz transit earlier this week, according to Bloomberg, which cited traders familiar with the matter. That cancellation triggered an emergency government approval on Wednesday and a formal spot tender issued Thursday by state-owned Pakistan LNG Limited.

The tender, published on Pakistan's Public Procurement Regulatory Authority website under reference PLL/IMP/LNGT74, calls for a delivered ex-ship cargo for July 15-16. According to Anadolu Ajansı, offers are due by Friday's deadline.

Why Hormuz Froze

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has come to a near standstill after the United States carried out strikes on Iran for a second consecutive day, following Iranian attacks on vessels in the waterway that included an LNG tanker, geo.tv reported. The strait is the single chokepoint through which the bulk of Gulf LNG and oil exports move.

The conflict has been escalating since late February, according to ProPakistani. Bloomberg ship tracking data cited by ProPakistani shows Pakistan's LNG import volumes dropped sharply from April before only partially recovering in recent weeks, well below normal levels throughout the spring.

Pakistan's Dangerous Concentration Risk

Pakistan relies on Qatar for nearly all of its LNG under long-term supply agreements. That made geopolitical sense when the Hormuz route was reliable. It is an acute vulnerability now.

QatarEnergy declared force majeure on its Ras Laffan facilities after reports emerged in March that the terminal had come under attack, geo.tv reported. That declaration raised immediate concerns about long-term contract reliability on top of the transit risk. Qatar has since extended the force majeure, according to ProPakistani.

The result: Pakistan has been forced to buy on the spot market, where prices are typically far higher than long-term contract rates, twice in the past few weeks before this latest tender. The previous spot purchase, from TotalEnergies SE for July 10-11 delivery, was priced at $17.37 per million British thermal units, Bloomberg reported.

The Case for Pakistan's Position

Pakistan's long-term contract strategy with Qatar was, for years, exactly the right call: predictable volume, lower price, stable supplier. Diversification carries its own costs, and for a cash-strapped developing economy managing chronic energy poverty, locking in reliable supply through long-term deals was fiscally defensible. The current crisis is primarily a consequence of regional military escalation, not a procurement failure Pakistan could easily have anticipated or hedged against at reasonable cost.

The country now has zero meaningful cushion. When one route fails, Islamabad scrambles. Spot market cargoes at $17-plus per MMBtu are expensive insurance.

Government Response

Pakistan's National Crisis Management Cell has been monitoring energy markets and facilitating procurement decisions since the disruptions began, according to geo.tv. Government officials have described maintaining fuel inventories as a top priority.

The emergency procurement process has moved quickly: the government approved the latest tender Wednesday, Pakistan LNG published it Thursday, and the submission deadline is Friday, according to Anadolu Ajansı. Delivery is targeted for July 15-16.

The Open Question

The immediate tender covers one cargo. Whether Pakistan can line up a willing seller at a navigable price and whether any tanker captain will transit Hormuz to deliver it remains genuinely uncertain as of July 9, with U.S.-Iran hostilities still active and Hormuz traffic at near-standstill. If this tender fails to attract offers, or if the conflict extends into late July, Pakistan faces the prospect of gas shortfalls with no long-term contract supply currently flowing and the spot market as its only option.