Adeem Niaz

Pakistan will get crude oil, refined petrol and diesel from Russia after a successful visit by the Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik resulted in an agreement for discounted energy supplies. Malik said that his visit to Russia was a success since the hosts had agreed in principle to provide Pakistan with supplies of much-needed energy inputs at discounted prices. He said that private companies had also agreed to supply Pakistan with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), in addition to showing interest in supplying LNG from their new plants in the future.

He added, “fruitful discussion was also conducted on establishing Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline, commonly known as North-South (Lahore-Karachi) Gas Pipeline, and another ‘Big Gas Pipeline’ to get the hydrocarbons directly from Russia.” He continued, “a Russian delegation will visit Pakistan early next year to discuss the modalities of the agreement. We have an annual shortfall in the supply of gas by up to 10%.

This year we have arranged for extra supplies from friendly sources, as compared to the last year.” Malik said that Petroleum Division was closely monitoring the supply and demand of natural gas to keep the prices stable and ensure a consistent supply to domestic and household consumers. “We have directed the gas supply authorities not to disrupt gas supply at the times of breakfast, lunch and dinner i.e. 6-9 a.m., 12-2 p.m., and 6-9 p.m.”

He lamented the poor infrastructure which caused the pressure to decrease in remote areas. He said that gas companies have been directed to supply an extra 20,000 tons of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in priority areas where pressure was low. He continued, “Iran has also agreed to supply us with LPG worth 2 million pounds, which is going to increase our stock for the month of December. We understand the requirements of industry and we will make sure that industrial wheels keep on moving for the economy to grow.”

Malik said that the government was looking at all options, including Central Asian countries, to procure cheap energy for the country’s industry and domestic use. “Meanwhile,” he added, “we need to work on our own indigenous resources so as to end our dependency on foreign suppliers. For that purpose, we are developing two policies for tight gas and revival of old hydrocarbon wells, respectively.” “We have to increase our energy efficiency by almost 10% in order to grow our GDP at the desired rate of 6% annually,” he concluded.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk