President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman of the National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman of the FPCCI Policy Advisory Board, and former Provincial IT Minister, Mian Zahid Hussain, has expressed deep concern over the suspension of LNG supply to Pakistan by Qatar until November 5 under the ‘Force Majeure’ clause. He explained that ‘Force Majeure’ is a legal provision that relieves parties from fulfilling their contractual obligations in the event of natural disasters, accidents, or unavoidable emergencies. Noting that Qatar supplies 20 percent of the world’s LNG, he warned that this disruption due to the US America war will severely impact industrial gas supplies, leading to a massive decline in manufacturing output. He cautioned that this crisis is emerging precisely as winter approaches and nationwide gas demand reaches its peak.
Mian Zahid Hussain stated that over the past five years, the country’s average annual unconstrained demand for natural gas and imported LNG has hovered between 1.27 and 1.46 Trillion Cubic Feet (TcF). However, due to gas rationing and pipeline constraints, actual consumption has been restricted to barely 1.1 to 1.2 TcF annually. Under normal circumstances, Pakistan imports approximately 0.22 TcF of LNG annually from Qatar, Nigeria, Italy, Indonesia, Oman, and the United States, translating to 110 to 120 LNG cargoes per year, or about 10 shipments per month. He highlighted that between March and September 2026, due to the Iran-US war, the situation became so critical that Pakistan managed to secure only 17 LNG cargoes in total, with the last shipment arriving from Qatar on September 22, 2026. This severe shortage has plunged Pakistan into a direct deficit of 400 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of LNG. This means the country is facing a shortfall of at least 4 LNG cargoes per month compared to standard requirements for winter power generation and industrial consumption, which rings alarm bells for the national economy.
Mian Zahid Hussain noted that the country’s power generation, manufacturing, textile, and value-added export sectors rely heavily on an uninterrupted supply of gas to keep their plants operational. Industries are already fighting a battle for survival in the global market due to the high cost of doing business. The anticipated cuts in LNG supply will force Pakistani factories to scale down production, which will not only reduce manufacturing output but also cause significant delays in export shipments. He warned that if Pakistani exporters fail to honor their commitments to international buyers and orders are canceled, it will have a devastating impact on the country’s export sector.
Mian Zahid Hussain pointed out that the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Division have previously procured spot cargoes from the open market, and given the current circumstances, there is no alternative but to buy LNG spot cargoes internationally to maintain the country’s gas supply and demand balance. While acknowledging that purchasing expensive gas from the spot market on a short-term basis will further increase the cost of doing business, he argued that this temporary financial burden is far less damaging than the potential industrial shutdown, crippled production capacity, and catastrophic loss of exports. Furthermore, he urged the government to strictly implement a prioritized gas allocation mechanism. Available domestic reserves and imported LNG must be channeled to industrial processes and the export sector on a priority basis to maintain the momentum of the national economy and ensure the economically viable utilization of resources.
Welcoming the government’s efforts toward macroeconomic stabilization, which are yielding improvements in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, he noted that despite the recent war in the region, Pakistan’s economic and diplomatic performance has been tremendously recognized globally. However, he emphasized that keeping the industrial wheel running at full capacity is the real measure of success. The business community is confident that the government will immediately secure alternative LNG supplies and ensure that the manufacturing sector is not sacrificed during this energy crisis.