Pakistan faces a winter gas squeeze as Qatari liquefied natural gas deliveries remain suspended because of the war in the Gulf, just as demand begins to rise. Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik told the National Assembly on 26 October that LNG supplies from Qatar totalling about 900 million cubic feet a day had been suspended, putting the country's gas supply security under pressure as winter approaches.

The scale of the exposure is stark. Pakistan imported 36 LNG cargoes during the previous winter, of which 35 came from Qatar, and imported LNG accounted for approximately one-fifth of national gas consumption between July 2025 and March 2026, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26. The country's needs for the 2026-27 winter season are estimated at about 24 cargoes. The government plans to import 10 LNG cargoes from the spot market at double the price of LNG under its long-term Qatari contracts, at a cost of more than one billion dollars, as Asian spot prices reach four-year highs.

Conflicting end dates in the reporting

Reported end dates for the suspension differ by buyer and by source, and readers should not treat any single date as settled. The News reports QatarEnergy's extension of force majeure on LNG deliveries until 5 November as the pressure point for Pakistan's energy planners. Reuters, meanwhile, reports that clients in Pakistan and Bangladesh were notified that force majeure notices had been extended until the end of the year, and that Italy's Edison received notice of three further cargoes that will not be delivered.

The suspension has not meant a total stoppage: two Qatari cargoes arrived during October, including the vessel Al Areesh on 13 October, and the latest cargo restarted the Pakistan GasPort terminal, which had been shut since 9 October because of low stocks. LPG imports, 70% of them by land, have also been hit by border closures.