Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) received its first bids in a year to buy spot cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from commodities trader Trafigura, to deliver two cargoes in January and February.

The South Asian nation had struggled to procure spot cargoes of the super-chilled gas for the past year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed global gas prices to record highs, leaving it to face widespread power outages.

A source with knowledge of the matter said on Friday that PLL received one bid at $23.47 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) for an import tender to be delivered on Jan. 3-4, and at $22.47/mmBtu for Feb. 23-24 delivery.

Earlier in June, Pakistan issued two tenders seeking spot LNG cargoes for the first time in nearly a year.

The first tender, which sought six cargoes for delivery in October and December on a delivered-ex-ship (DES) basis to Port Qasim in Karachi, did not receive any bids.

Its second tender sought three cargoes for delivery in January and February. The bid from Trafigura, and the only bid for the tender, is for Pakistan LNG’s second tender which closes on July 14.

December and January are peak seasons for gas demand in Pakistan.

Trafigura did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Reuters reported by Emily Chow in Singapore and Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad and edited by Jason Neely and Mark Potter