Business

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

Published

8 months 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

An investigation was “launched” into PTA’s inability to get Rs. 78 billion back from Telcos

Published

15 hours ago

Farwa

The PTA has reportedly been instructed to reply to NAB by July 29. According to the enquiry, the national exchequer has suffered losses as a result of the delay in collecting dues.

The PTA has been asked to provide NAB with information about any pertinent records, court proceedings, and overdue bills. The NAB Karachi has summoned the PTA officials to appear with all pertinent documentation.

All of the principle sum has to be paid by the LDI firms, according to sources. But due to judicial stay orders, the collection of dues has been impeded.

These sources further state that a steering group has been established by the Ministry of IT to supervise the issue of dues recovery.

In a previous event, the tariffs levied on importing cell phones from outside were clarified by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Contrary to what some internet reports claim, PTA clarified in response to recent news regarding the tariffs on mobile phone imports that there hasn’t been a formal decision to remove these levies in Pakistan.

the PTA.Pakistanis living abroad will be the only ones free from these levies, according to the PTA. A SIM card can be inserted and the phone restarted to temporarily register a device for non-PTA mobile subscribers.

Business

Weekly inflation in Pakistan increased by 0.17 percent.

Published

15 hours ago

Farwa

The SPI for the week under review in the aforementioned group was reported at 321.95 points, as opposed to 321.40 points during the previous week, according to the PBS statistics.

The SPI for the combined consumption group saw a 20.09 percent increase in the week under review compared to the same week the previous year.

The weekly SPI includes 51 necessary items for every spending group and 17 urban areas, with a base year of 2015–16 = 100.

The SPI for the lowest consumption category, which is up to Rs 17,732, grew by 0.08 percent from 311.97 points to 312.22 points this past week.

0.18 percent,The index of consumption for the lowest consumption groups, which are Rs 17,732-22,888, Rs 22,889-29,517, Rs 29,518-44,175 and above Rs 44,175; increased by 0.13 percent, 0.15 percent, 0.18 and 0.19 percent, respectively.

Nineteen (37.25%) of the fifty-one commodities had price increases over the week, eight (15.69%) had price decreases, and twenty-four (47.06%) had unchanged pricing.

On a weekly basis, the following commodities saw significant price decreases: tomatoes (9.19%), onions (2.14%), LPG (1.04%), bananas (0.53%), wheat flour (0.35%), potatoes (0.17%), pulse masoor (0.16%), and bread (0.05%).

Chicken (4.80%), garlic (2.01%), pulse gramme (1.87%), eggs (1.71%), beef (0.93%), gur (0.89%), pulse moong (0.84%), fresh milk (0.45%), firewood (0.23%), and cigarettes (0.12%) were among the items whose average prices increased significantly week over week.

The commodities that saw a year-over-year decline were: wheat flour (31.75%); cooking oil (13.44%); vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (10.42%); vegetable ghee 1 kg (9.85%); mustard oil (8.33%); eggs (5.82%); rice basmati broken (4.15%); and tea package (2.52%).

Gas prices for Q1 (570.00%), onions (96.01%), pulse gramme (40.39%), powered milk (39.11%), garlic (34.61%), pulse moong (29.77%), men’s sandals (25.01%), beef (23.52%), salt powder (23.28%), pulse mash (22.50%), and energy saver (17.96%) were among the commodities whose average prices increased year over year.

Business

The price of gold has drastically dropped in Pakistan.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

As per the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the cost of 24-karat gold per tola decreased by Rs 2,300, standing at Rs 250,500.

A kilogramme of 24-karat gold costing Rs1,972 less at the local market, making it worth Rs2114,763. Ten grammes of 22-karat gold had a price decrease to Rs196,866 as well.

After losing a significant $43 during the day, the rate per ounce of gold on the international market also decreased. It currently stands at $2,370.

On Thursday, the price of 24-karat silver also experienced a decline, falling by Rs60 to settle at Rs2,860 petal.