Gas theft in KP costing exchequer billions of rupees: PM

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Wednesday said that gas theft in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is causing a loss of billions of rupees to the country every year and the province has done nothing to arrest this pilferage.
During a press briefing, the Prime Minister said that all provinces have been facing gas theft and wastage but in the villages of Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the gas is being stolen openly and on a massive scale. Even the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa expressed his inability to control the theft, he added.
Enumerating the government's performance in the oil and gas sector, PM Abbasi said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) addressed the gas shortages and now prominent oil and gas companies are expressing interest in investing billions of dollars in the LNG sector.
He said that Pakistan is being dubbed a success story in the LNG sector and the price of imported gas is lowest than other fuels in the world and as a result of this imported gas, the wheel of industry and fertilizers production was revived.
The Prime Minister maintained that the power generation from the LNG is much cheaper than that from furnace oil which is helping save billions of dollars in foreign exchange. "Gas-fired plants are more efficient than those powered by the furnace oil," he added.
He said that Pakistan imported one million tones of fertilizer when the PML-N assumed power in 2013. However, as a result of availability of sufficient gas, they were able to export 600,000 tones of fertilizer in 2017.
He further said that record 160 discoveries related to oil and gas were made during the tenure of the present government. The discoveries added 35,000 barrels of oil and 900 million cubic feet of gas into the system. Meanwhile, 445 wells were drilled during the period. Of these, 225 were exploratory wells. Total discoveries reflect the success rate of 50 percent which is a great achievement of the government, he added.
He said, "The government has also made arrangements for laying North South Pipeline with the cooperation of Russia and China." He said that distribution pipelines of 25,000 kilometer were laid during the period which is a record.
Abbasi maintained that during the last five years, two million new gas connections were provided, adding that the connections were given through a transparent mechanism.
About the TAPI project, the Prime Minister said that the work on this important project is in progress and the country will start receiving gas from it by 2020. He further said that Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project was delayed due to sanctions on Iran. Due to the sanctions, he said that the investment could not be brought in the project.
Talking about the LPG, Abbasi said its production was more than doubled in the past five years, adding that the LPG quotas were doled out but these are now sold through a competitive bidding. "I had purchased LPG cylinder at my home against a price of Rs 2500 which has been reduced to Rs 1200 per cylinder which shows drastic reduction in price of the LPG through regulations," he said.
He further said that the LPG air-mix plants are being installed in the areas where supply of piped gas is not possible. These include every district headquarters of Balochistan, Chitral, Gilgit, Azad Kashmir, Murree and Kahuta. Similar plant would also be set up in Skardu within two-three years.
The Prime Minister said that despite opposition by vested interests, the government introduced quality diesel and petrol (RON 92 instead of RON 87) in the country at cheaper price which are environment and vehicle friendly and also led to the reduction in price.
Talking about the further strategy in the oil sector, he said that the work has also been initiated for transmission of oil from Karachi to Multan, Karachi to Lahore and other areas through pipelines. He said that the tariff for these pipelines was fixed for 15 years to meet the cost of the pipelines. "In longer period, these pipelines will be cheaper than the transportation of oil in the country," he said.
First phase from Karachi to Multan would be completed by the next year and as a result the cost of transportation would come down, he said.
PM Abbasi said that there has been no import of furnace oil for the last eight months and its import would come to an end next year.
Two refineries would be set up in the private sector, besides increasing capacity of the existing refinery in Karachi from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand barrels per day, he added.
He said that the PARCO coastal refinery would be completed in three years at a cost of $5 billion. The second mid-country refinery would be set up near Lahore at a cost of Rs 6 to Rs 7 billion and will have a capacity of 3000,000 barrels of oil per day Abbasi said that there has been a complete implementation of the plans as promised by the current government to end the gas shortage.