Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the petroleum division to ensure gas supply to domestic consumers in winters. During a meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz assigned an important task to the petroleum division directing it to ensure gas supply to the domestic users during the forthcoming winters. He also sought details regarding the gas sector.
The prime minister called another meeting on gas next week. During the meeting, PM Shehbaz was briefed about the progress on the import of petroleum products from Russia.
State Minister for Petroleum Division Musadik Masood Malik told the meeting that Pakistan was ready to import gas and oil from Russia. He informed that the ministry had written a letter to Russia in this regard.
The ball is in Russia’s court. Whenever they call us, we will go there, Musadik said assuring the participants that Pakistan would not reach an agreement that would evoke sanctions against it. He briefed the PM that the government would follow the TAPI project under which the import of 1.4MCF gas could be made. It is a long-term project worth $8 billion.
The state minister, however, warned that this year the country would face a severe gas crunch. He informed that an additional cargo of the Liquefied Natural Gas was arranged for the months of January and February.
PM Shehbaz directed the petroleum division to ensure gas supply to domestic users on priority basis. Musadik said when the PMLN-led government came into power, Pakistan had almost defaulted on commercial basis. For the purchase of oil, the LCs for the Pakistan State Oil could not be confirmed, he added. The petroleum ministry also briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz over gas theft who ordered strict action against the culprits. Musadik said that his ministry was formulating a policy to stop losses through unaccounted for gas. The meeting decided to install the town border station at main gas supply points across the country.
The minister said that in 3 to 4 months, the TBSs would be installed outside all the towns. The TBS would measure the supply and demand of gas and would also give the estimates of loss and profit. The officers would also be taken to task after the installation of the TBSs, he added.
He said that the gas demand of the domestic consumers is around 950 MMCFD in the winter season while the pack demand of the domestic consumers reaches 1300 MMCFD. The minister informed that every month the government would buy 20,000 tons additional LPG.
