Pakistan is heading toward a serious gas crisis as LNG imports get badly hit by the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Officials told the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum that supplies from Qatar, Pakistan’s main LNG source, have stopped because of the conflict disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and closing key facilities.
In March 2026, six expected LNG cargoes did not arrive. For April, out of six planned cargoes, three are unlikely to come. This means the country could run out of imported gas completely after April 14, 2026, leaving zero supply if no quick fixes are found. The Director General of LNG warned the committee about this, and similar alerts came from other sources like Dawn and ProPakistani.
The shortage will hurt households needing gas for cooking, industries relying on it for production, and power plants that use regasified LNG (RLNG) to generate electricity, especially during peak summer demand. Already, some industrial users face cuts, and fertilizer plants have seen temporary shutdowns due to earlier supply halts.
The government is pushing to boost local gas output and hunt for spot market alternatives, but high prices and money issues make it tough. The Petroleum Division and companies like SNGPL and SSGC are under pressure to come up with emergency plans.
Energy Minister Awais Leghari noted that more domestic power from sources like solar helps a bit, but LNG still matters a lot for the grid.