Rs 800 Bln Ongoing Gas Projects To End Energy Woes: Official

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Augst,2016) : The government has initiated different gas related projects worth Rs 800 billion, including setting up of LNG terminals and gas pipelines to meet energy needs of the country, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said Monday. "By the grace of Allah Almighty, Pakistan will have surplus power due to effective policies of the present government by 2018," he told APP.

He said it was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government that took a bold initiative to import LNG as the past governments could not take any practical step in this regard. Terming gas 'backbone' for the energy sector, he regretted that some elements were criticizing the LNG import and misleading the public about its benefits. He highlighted importance of LNG, saying that it would have great significance in strengthening the national economy even after arrival of gas through Iran-Pakistan and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India pipeline projects. With the import of LNG, he said Pakistan was importing one million tonne fertilizer, now it had 1.5 million tonne surplus fertilizer.

All gas-based power plants are in running condition, CNG sector was back to its business and industrial sector was getting full supply, he added. The official said the CNG sector was moving on the path of revival gradually and hinted that in the coming years it would be preferred over petrol.

Commenting on performance of the PML-N government, he said during last three years the government had launched unprecedented development projects for the benefit of common man.

"The three-year development, is much higher than the period from 1999 to 2013, if compared," he added. The government, he said, was making progress in all key sectors including energy, infrastructure development, social welfare projects like Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to mitigate sufferings of the common man. Answering a question, the official said Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGL) would spend Rs 71.043 billion on upgradation of transmission and distribution network across the country during the current fiscal year.

Whereas, he said, the government has allocated Rs 587.476 million in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2016-17) for the four major ongoing schemes aimed at stepping up exploration activities of natural resources to achieve self-reliance in the energy sector. During last three years, oil and gas exploration companies operating in different parts of the country made 84 discoveries, following which around 631 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas and 27,359 barrels per day (bpd) Crude Oil production has been added to the system. Currently, he said the country was producing 4 bcfd (billion cubic feet per day) gas against the demand of 8 bcfd.