ISLAMABAD: The board of directors of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has agreed to waive the 66 % “Take or Pay” clause for the government-owned liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, a senior government official said.

“In the long run, this will help reduce the capacity payments that the government has to pay to power plants even when they are not supplying electricity,” Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar tweeted.

The SNGPL board has today agreed for the waiver of 66% Take or Pay clause for govt owned LNG plants. In the long run this will help in reducing the capacity payments that government has to pay power plants even when they are not supplying electricity.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 3, 2021

The minister said the board also approved, in principle, the company’s pipeline capacity allocation for Energas for its upcoming LNG terminal that “will supply gas on a B2B [Business-to-Business] basis.”

The board of SNGPL today approved in principle. pipeline capacity allocation for Energas for their upcoming LNG terminal that will supply gas on a B to B basis. This paves the way for private sector supply and availability of LNG across the country.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 3, 2021

Hammad said this would pave the way for private sector entities to supply the commodity to their consumers and ensure the availability of LNG across the country.