Pakistan secures LNG transit arrangements with Iran amid rising Gulf tensions, as Tehran tightens control over the Strait of Hormuz and global energy markets face disruption.
WEBDESK – MediaBites News
Pakistan has secured a crucial energy arrangement with Iran to ensure the safe passage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran tightens its control over one of the world’s most strategically important energy routes amid the ongoing regional conflict.
A Reuters investigation revealed that two LNG tankers carrying Qatari gas are heading towards Pakistan after understandings were reached between Islamabad and Tehran for transit through the Gulf corridor controlled by Iranian naval forces.
The development comes as Pakistan faces mounting pressure from rising fuel costs and increased electricity demand during the summer season. Before the conflict, Pakistan was importing nearly 10 LNG cargoes every month from Gulf suppliers.
Energy analysts say Iran is no longer merely threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz but is now actively controlling access to it.
“Iran has shifted from blocking Hormuz to controlling access to it. Hormuz is no longer a neutral transit route, it is a controlled corridor,” Claudio Steuer of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies told Reuters.
The Strait of Hormuz normally handles around 20 per cent of global oil and LNG supplies, but shipping traffic has dropped sharply since the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran earlier this year.
Global energy markets have already been rattled by the disruption. Brent crude prices have surged by more than 50 per cent since February, while LNG prices in Asia and Europe have risen between 35 and 50 per cent.
Sources familiar with the matter said Pakistan has not made any direct payments to Iran or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for the LNG transit arrangements. However, one Pakistani source acknowledged the process remains unpredictable.
“The IRGC sometimes changes the goalposts, so it is hard to keep things on track, but we are working through it,” the source said.
The report also warned that as more countries negotiate separate passage arrangements with Tehran, Iran’s grip over the Strait of Hormuz could become increasingly normalised, potentially reshaping global energy trade and regional power dynamics.
