By Muhammad Mudassar ISLAMABAD, April 11 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan Liquified Natural Gas Limited (PLL) has purchased six LNG cargoes for May and June 2022 to meet the demand for power generation. The company received 12 bids for six spot LNG cargoes at a minimum price of $24.2-31.8 per metric million British thermal unit (mmbtu) for May and June. Pakistan will begin receiving three cargoes a month under the second agreement with Qatar in July 2022 and four cargoes each month since the beginning of 2024 as part of a 10-year arrangement. In May, Pakistan will receive 12 LNG cargoes with a flow of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) and in June, 11 LNG cargoes with 1.1 bcfd will be available, which will help in generating cheaper electricity. According to Arif Habib Limited, a top securities brokerage and investment banking firm, the core contributors to electricity generation during March 2022 were coal (25%), RLNG (19%), hydel (16%), nuclear (15%), furnace oil (11%), gas (10%), wind (3%), bagasse and solar (1% each). Electricity generation from RLNG  increased by 1.8% in March 2022, reaching 2576.6MW against 2530.3MW in March 2021. The RLNG-based electricity generation cost also increased by 58% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs14.37/KWh in March 2022 from Rs 9.1/KWh in March 2021. The reason is a 90% YoY rise in RLNG prices to Rs2,846/mmbtu from $15.81/mmbtu). The surge in global gas prices due to shortages in Europe has pushed Asian LNG to a record high. This forced Pakistan to pay the highest ever for spot shipments to top up supply under long-term contracts, or even forgo them altogether, WealthPK reported. There is a rapid depletion of natural gas resources in Pakistan. In just six years, Pakistan has become the ninth largest LNG importer in the world. In an attempt to restore gas supply, the CNG Association and general industry hoped to resume deliveries. “The government has taken a bold step and bought LNG from the international market in this difficult time to reduce gas shortages and ensure supply to power plants and other consumers,” Chairman of All Pakistan CNG Association Ghiyas Paracha stated.