Private investment in LNG sector: Govt introduces Ogra (amendment) bill

ISLAMABAD: The government, Monday, introduced, “The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Bill, 2022” in the National Assembly to allow private investors to invest at their own cost and risk to meet the growing demand of LNG in the country.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi introduced the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which was referred to the relevant committee.

According to the bill, “In the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2022, in section 6, after sub-section (3), the following new sub-section (4) shall be added, namely”:- Notwithstanding any other provision of the Ordinance, nothing in clause (j) of sub-section (2) shall apply to LNG terminals and associated facilities, developed by private sector parties without involving any government guarantees or off-take commitments for a period specified by the government through policy guidelines issued under section 21.”

Litigations against Ogra on the rise

According to the object and reasons of the bill, “the said mandatory open access/ Third Party Access (TPA) is making private investment in the LNG sector far more challenging. To support encourage private investment in this sector at the investor’s own cost and risk to meet the growing demand of LNG in the country.”

The National Assembly, on Monday, referred a government bill to the standing committee on energy for deliberations which was related to the oil and gas sector.

Chairman Standing Committee on Energy (Petroleum Division) Aamir Talal Gopang also presented the report of the Standing Committee on the Petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022