Petroleum Division to continue consultations for national strategy on gas issues

ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division on Friday said it would continue holding consultations with all the provinces and departments concerned for preparing a unified strategy on the issues of natural gas supply and its pricing matters.

The division, in a press release issued about the seminar on gas supply issues held recently at the Prime Minister Secretariat, said,“The discourse was very productive and led to suggestions on the way forward for issues pertaining to gas sector of Pakistan.”

The seminar witnessed active participation from the Federal Government, parliamentarians, provincial ministers, provincial energy departments, corporate executives and energy experts.

In his keynote address, Prime Minister Imran Khan had appreciated the efforts of Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum (SAPM) Nadeem Babar and Petroleum Division for holding a thorough debate on gas sector, emphasizing the need to outline a long-term strategy to address shortages and circular debt challenges keeping in view national interest, according to the press statement.

Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan voiced the hope that the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan would address the daunting challenge of energy crisis and would achieve the target of supplying affordable energy to the people.

He added that the energy sector should be prioritized as a vital national interest and dealt with mutual coordination of provinces and federation to take the maximum benefit of natural resources of the country.

SAPM Nadeem Babar noted that the serious challenges in terms of gas availability from domestic sources had hit the country because of insufficient exploration & production activities in the last 10 years, while the demand was rising steadily.

“The snow-ball effect of gap between supply and demand of natural gas will also disturb all provinces in adverse manner.

He underscored the need of national consensus to deal with the impending gas crises based on financial sustainability and affordability of gas supply.

Otherwise, he expressed concern that the industry would face gas curtailments in the winters when the domestic demand increased more than double.

National and international energy experts also spoke at the seminar. While in the group discussions, the experts presented specific ideas ranging from gas supply options(indigenous/import), financial sustainability & Weighted Average Cost of Gas and Gas infrastructure development needs to Open Access Regime for Liquefied Natural Gas.

“The Petroleum Division will continue consultations with all Provinces and related departments and prepare a national consensus for recommendations to the Council of Common Interests.”