Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the first Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in the country has been completed in record time of 11 months and will be operational from March 31. He says that the first imported gas will be added to the national system and it will be available for domestic and industrial consumers.After the first shipment from Qatar reaches Pakistan, the LNG will be re-gasified and will be injected into the Sui Southern Gas Company network through a re-gasification terminal at Port Qasim on March 31.The SSGCL will than transfer it to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited at the Zamzama-Sawan gas establishment. The minister claimed that the import of LNG is being carried out in a transparent manner after fulfilling all required formalities to overcome the energy shortage.
Abbasi also says that 1.5 million tons to three million tons LNG will be imported annually at a cost of around $8 per Million British Thermal Units, which is the lowest rate in the international market and claimed that the LNG import agreement with Qatar is better than all the other countries made with the gulf state. The minister has invited common businessmen to participate in the LNG import and become part of the process.He says that the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project is still intact and the import ofgas will be ensured from Qatar, Iran and other countries to fulfill the energy needs of the country. However, mystery shrouded the gas import as the Pakistan State Oil has paid $30 million to the Qatar Gas, but the minister claimed the payment is made by the private importers, Universal Gas Distribution Company and Pak-Arab Fertilizers. However, an official claimed that the PSO imported the gas.
As a matter of fact the country has been facing chronic energy crisis for the last many decades and the governments in Islamabad also found ad hoc arrangements to deal with the situation. The country’s industrial base is expanding at a fast rate despite all hostile and odd situations facing this nation. A democratic government is in the office and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself is a businessman. The nation does not need ad hoc arrangements, but permanent solution to energy crisis. The CNG stations across Punjab and elsewhere in the country have been closed for the last couple of months and billions of rupees investment is lost. The time is ripe the democratic government pay attention to this vital sector of the economy.
