Höegh LNG has announced that the consortium of Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Total, Mitsubishi and Höegh LNG, created to develop the Port Qasim LNG import project in Pakistan had dissolved due to differences among the members of the consortium. ExxonMobil withdrew from the project earlier in November 2017 and set its sights on a rival development project. The Port Qasim FSRU consortium had been created in February 2017 and planned to commission a 750 mcf/d (21 mcm/d or 7.7 bcm/year) FSRU in southern Pakistan by early 2018. The project remains in its initial phase and no timeline can be indicated at this stage. Höegh LNG, which signed a 20-year Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) charter with Global Energy Infrastructure Limited (GEIL) in December 2016, will seek partners for a FSRU development in Pakistan and will pursue alternative opportunities for the FSRU contract.
Meanwhile, Japanese company Mitsui and BW Group have agreed to form a joint venture (51% BW, 49% Mitsui) in the 5.6 Mt/year BW Integrity FSRU, which will be chartered for a 15-year period to the Pakistan GasPort Consortium (PGPC). The FSRU will be moored in Port Qasim and is expected to start operations by the end of 2017.