Shehbaz Sharif Seeks $Billion LNG Pipeline Partnership with Russia

ISLAMABAD: The coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is negotiating a multi-billion dollar agreement with Russia for the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline.

President Vladimir Putin has proposed the construction of a new LNG pipeline that would traverse Iran, connecting Russia to Pakistan and potentially extending to India.

During the discussions, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif underscored the potential for expanding bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia and expressed a keen interest in working with President Putin to strengthen their strategic partnership.

Currently, the annual trade volume between the two nations is between $800 million and $900 million, with plans to significantly enhance this amount in the future.

The proposed pipeline was meant to deliver between 750 million and one billion cubic feet of natural gas daily to Pakistan for 25 years to support the country’s energy needs. To advance the LNG project with Russia, Pakistan may need to adopt a strategic approach similar to Turkey’s, which successfully navigated US sanctions to finalize a commercial agreement.

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