Pakistan could be heading for its largest-ever energy infrastructure investment, with a consortium of American companies proposing an integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at Port Qasim worth up to $4.4 billion — a plan that would give the country its first major onshore LNG storage facility and a new 1,100-kilometre gas pipeline running upcountry.
The proposal was reported by Dawn on 2 November 2026, which said the US-led group has the backing of the Trump administration. The plan covers the full chain: LNG imports, storage, regasification, pipeline transmission and direct sales to large consumers on a merchant basis — and it arrives at a moment when Pakistan’s dependence on imported gas has never been more exposed.
What the $4.4 Billion Proposal Includes
The project is designed in two phases. The first, estimated at $1.7 billion, is an LNG import, storage and regasification terminal at Port Qasim with four storage tanks of 140,000 cubic metres each — a combined capacity of 560,000 cubic metres, with annual throughput of roughly 35 billion cubic feet.
The second phase, worth around $2.7 billion, would add a 1,100-kilometre pipeline, between 42 and 48 inches in diameter, capable of carrying about 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day upcountry to northern consumers. Beyond serving Pakistan’s domestic regasification needs, the consortium wants to run the terminal as a regional LNG storage and trading hub for South Asia, supplying re-gasified LNG to markets across the region from American and Middle Eastern suppliers.
Who Is Behind the Consortium
The sponsors are Global Vision Energy Partners (GVEP) and Khanjee Holdings, described in the reports as related firms, alongside Luxembourg-based General Mediterranean Holding and strategic co-investors from other countries. The proposed financing structure is 70 percent debt and 30 percent equity, with GVEP holding 26 percent, General Mediterranean Holding 24 percent, and Khanjee Holdings and strategic co-investors holding 20 percent each.
The group is also looking for local Pakistani investors to take up to 10 percent equity, with minimum investment tickets starting at $50 million. According to the reports, the sponsors have already secured consent from the Port Qasim Authority for the project site and have applied to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) for a provisional licence. The project has additionally been approved for consideration under the US Trade and Development Agency’s project preparation programme.
The Reality Check: What’s Confirmed and What’s Not
For all its scale, the proposal is still at the starting line. No final investment decision has been announced, no financing package or construction contract has been signed, and no binding equity commitments have been confirmed. The final project cost will only be set after engineering, procurement and construction contracts are signed, and OGRA has not approved the licence or the proposed domestic regasification tariffs.
The context is telling. Pakistan currently has no onshore LNG storage facility — its existing terminals rely on floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), leaving re-gasified supplies entirely dependent on import chains and world energy prices. The proposal follows the Strait of Hormuz supply shock that recently rattled LNG imports — including the attack on the Pakistan-bound LNG carrier Al Mayeda, which was forced to turn back.
It is also not the first time such a project has been pitched. Energas — a group that included the Lucky Group and QatarEnergy — abandoned a similar Port Qasim terminal plan, citing fundamental changes in Pakistan’s energy policy and unresolved fiscal issues. The Port Qasim Authority has now set a 30 November 2026 deadline for unconditional acceptance of Energas’s final letter of intent. Whether the American proposal succeeds where others stalled will depend on licences, tariffs and, above all, firm money on the table.
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