Business

‘Breach of confidentiality’ lands cargo deal with Azerbaijan in red zone

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

PLL uses SOCAR’s offered price as tool to bring down bid price.
SOCAR had offered LNG price at $17.96 per MMBtu.
Azerbaijan-based company may take legal action against PLL.

ISLAMABAD: The GtG deal with Azerbaijan on offering one LNG cargo a month has landed in the red zone because of the confidentiality breach allegedly done by Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL), The News reported Sunday.

The PLL used the price offered from SOCAR, an Azeri state-owned company, as a tool to bring down the bid price from the lowest bidder OQ trading, which was at $18.46 per MMBtu, senior officials involved in the bidding process told The News.

The OQ Trading on Friday offered the lowest bid of $18.46 per MMBtu for one LNG cargo to be delivered on January 08-9, 2024, followed by Vitol Bahrain at $18.58, QatarEnergy Trading at $19.43, and Trafigura at $19.64 per MMBtu. The OQ Trading offered the lowest bid, but the price was still higher than the previous spot cargoes procured by Pakistan LNG Limited.

Earlier, SOCAR was evasive from offering the price of one cargo for the month of January on account of higher LNG prices. However, the PLL Board met after the bids were opened and decided to contact SOCAR for its offer for January LNG cargo.

In return, SOCAR offered the LNG price at $17.96 per MMBtu, but PLL management cleverly contacted OQ trading and let it know about the SOCAR offer which was under GtG, not the bidding process.

It asked the lowest bidder to match the SOCAR offer. The OQ trading revised down its offer to $17.95 per MMBtu than the SOCAR-offered price below one cent. This is how the PLL managed the LNG cargo for January at $17.95 by using SOCAR’s price as a tool to bargain with the lowest bidder. This may warrant legal action by SOCAR.

The PLL after getting the price offer from SOCAR did not contact again for further decrease but preferred to ask OQ trading to match its price. The price under the GtG contract can’t be matched with the bid price.

The sources said the price difference between the lowest bid price of $18.46 per MMBtu from OQ trading and SOCAR’s offer was $1.5 million per cargo but then the lowest bidder gave a price of $0.01 cheaper to get the order. One cent reduction means a $32,000 reduction in LNG cargo price.

“This has virtually annoyed SOCAR as it is of the view that PLL has breached the sanctity of confidentiality, which is against the spirit of GtG deal. It says PLL has no right to use the price offered under the GtG contract with the bidders’ price. SOCAR came up with the offer under its contract at $17.96 per MMBtu with the impact of a lower price of $1.5 million a cargo compared to the bid price offered by OQ trading at $18.46 per MMBtu,” officials said while quoting the SOCAR management, which got agitated after the confidential violation.

When contacted, SOCAR didn’t reply in detail but confirmed that confidentiality had been breached. However, this scribe contacted time and again PLL MD Masood Nabi who did not respond to the calls. He was also sent a question on his WhatsApp but he did not respond to the calls.

The question from The News correspondent reads, ”I have learnt that PLL has awarded the contract to OQ trading at $17.95 per MMBtu against its lowest bid of $18.46. Also came to know that PLL asked SOCAR to give its offer soon after the bids were opened for January. SOCAR offered the price under its GtG contract at $17.96 per MMBtu, but PLL by breaching confidentiality asked OQ trading to match and it offered a lower price by one cent at $ 17.95 per MMBtu. Don’t you think PLL played foul with SOCAR and it may go for legal action? Plz reply in detail.”

The same question was sent to the PLL board chairman and the spokesman for the Petroleum Division as well, but the scribe did not get a reply.

Business

In FY 2024, the federal government gives institutions Rs 437 billion.

Published

8 hours ago

Farwa

The Ministry of Finance revealed that a total of Rs 437 billion was given as support to different government agencies in Pakistan during the first half of fiscal year 2024.

Of this, Rs232 billion was set aside for subsidies to Pakistani public sector organizations. Furthermore, subsidies totaling Rs 120 billion were given to Pakistani government organizations between July and December 2023.

During the first half of the previous fiscal year, Pakistani government institutions received loans totaling Rs 85 billion. Sui Southern Gas Company in Pakistan was one of the main beneficiaries of the subsidies.

Other well-known Pakistani organizations that benefited from subsidies are Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), which received Rs 18.34 billion, and Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), which received Rs 26.24 billion. Subsidies totaling Rs11.63 billion went to the Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan.

In addition, Power Holding received a grant of Rs88.52 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2024, followed by Pakistan Railways with Rs27.5 billion and the National Highway Authority (NHA) with Rs4 billion.

Apart from subsidies, the Pakistani federal government also gave loans, giving NHA approximately Rs 25 billion and Pakistan Steel Mills Rs 35.54 billion.

The National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) received Rs6.1 billion, Printing Corporation received Rs1.2 billion, JENCO-II received Rs16.53 billion, and Radio Pakistan received Rs210 million. MEPCO, PESCO, and LESCO also received loans during this period. receiving Rs47 billion, while MEPCO (Multan Electric Power Company) received Rs42.56 billion.

A report released on December 27 by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics states that over the past year, the cost of some goods in Pakistan has significantly increased while the cost of others has decreased.

The research claims that the price of tomatoes has increased significantly, rising by 138.53 percent (pc). Women’s sandal prices increased by 75.09 percent, while the cost of potatoes increased by 61.17 percent. Lentils, too, experienced a price surge, with chana dal increasing by 51.17 pc and mung dal by 31.51 pc.

Prices for beef increased by 24.28 percent, while those for powdered milk increased by 25.62 percent. Garlic became 17.27 pc more expensive, and cooked lentils went up by 15.10 pc. Gas charges in Pakistan have also risen by 15.52 pc, and firewood prices climbed by 13.14 pc.

Business

With its second-largest surge ever, PSX approaches 114,000 points.

Published

6 days ago

Farwa

Driven by renewed activity from both private and government financial institutions, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw its second-largest rally in history on Monday.

The market regained many important levels in a single trading session as it rose with previously unheard-of momentum.

Intraday trading saw a top increase of 4,676 points, and the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 4,411 points to settle at 113,924 points. This impressive rebound demonstrated significant investor confidence by reestablishing the 100,000, 111,000, 112,000, and 113,000-point levels.

The market also saw the 114,000-point limit reestablished during the trading session.

The positive tendency was reflected when the market’s heavyweight shares touched its upper circuits. Among the most busiest trading sessions in recent memory, an astounding 85.78 billion shares worth a total of Rs55 billion were exchanged.

Experts credited the spike to heightened institutional investor activity and hope for macroeconomic recovery. Considered a major market recovery, the rally demonstrated the market’s tenacity and development potential.

Business

In interbank trade, the Pakistani rupee beats the US dollar.

Published

2 weeks ago

Farwa

In the international exchange market, the US dollar has continued to weaken in relation to the Pakistani rupee.

The dollar fell to Rs278.10 from Rs278.17 at the beginning of interbank trading, according to currency dealers, a seven paisa loss.

In the meantime, there was a lot of turbulence in the stock market, but it recovered and moved into the positive zone. The KSE-100 index recovered momentum and reached 116,000 points after soaring 1,300 points.

Both currency and stock market swings, according to analysts, are a reflection of ongoing market adjustments and economic uncertainty.