Energy Council: Industry leaders welcome step

The announcement of the formation of Energy Council was welcomed by the industry leaders here on the second day of Pakistan Energy Conference 2011. Wide range energy issues were discussed here on Monday in the conference organised by the Petroleum Institute of Pakistan (PPI) in association with The Mediators Conferences.
The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday. Senior government officials, public and private sector stakeholders and policy makers deliberated on various energy issues as well as potential areas to be focused to address energy crisis in Pakistan. Final recommendations of conference would be presented today (Tuesday), wherein Federal Minister for Water & Power and Privatisation Syed Naveed Qamar will be the Chief Guest.
Additional Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Zafar Iqbal Qadir chaired the session on "Addressing the growing natural gas shortage". The speakers discussed some factors necessary for success in development of an LNG terminal and import of LNG into Pakistan to meet the growing shortage of natural gas.
In experts opinion LNG import seems a logical choice, given Pakistan's large, existing gas transmission network, its favourable location with regard to LNG supply and the relative speed at which an import project can be implemented.
The session on "policy reforms to meet the rising energy demand with focus on E&P (exploration and production)" was chaired by President BP Pakistan Tariq Khamisani. Speakers maintained that safety and security is the major factor that discourages the investment in the E&P sector. They also called for sustainable policy and sanctity of contracts besides asking for more incentives. Irfan Qureshi, Managing Director of Pakistan State Oil chaired a session on the "Pressing needs of the oil sector". The stakeholders discussed how to ensure Pakistan's oil supply security as oil provides 32 per cent of Pakistan energy needs and share of oil in power generating is 38 per cent that makes oil sector a key resource for meeting multiple energy needs. Another session on innovative solutions for meeting energy was chaired by Managing Director Pakistan Petroleum Limited Khalid Rehman to confer for natural gas supplies. The energy sector experts also discussed unconventional gas development and pricing issues and deliberated how to come up with result-oriented solutions of mounting energy issues.-PR