ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Friday lauded the vision of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi which would ensure rapid economic development in the country.
President PBIF Mian Zahid Hussain said the prime minister had also served as federal minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources with full dedication and had a very clean reputation. He said the prime minister was the architect of the LNG policy which had reduced the supply-demand gap in the country and would help ensure energy security for the country. He said soon after becoming the prime minister he had focused on the energy sector to fulfill the energy demands of the country.
He said deregulation of profit margins of oil marketing companies (OMCs) and petroleum dealers would be one of the important decisions by the government. It would bring a number of benefits for the public and private sector petroleum refiners and it would also attract foreign investment in the country, he added. Pakistan monthly consumes 600,000 ton of high-speed diesel where as petrol demand stands at 550,000 ton per month which was being increased by 20 percent per annum, he remarked. Presently, OMCs charge Rs2.41 per litre of petrol and diesel while dealers collect Rs3.16 on petrol and Rs2.67 on diesel and they are trying to improve their margins, he observed. Mian Zahid Hussain also supported the proposal of a surcharge of ten paisa per litre on the sale of all transport fuels to enhance storage infrastructure and product stockpiles to at least 45 days of consumption.
Reserves of petroleum, oil and lubricant products for 45 days must be maintained but presently they were lower than the required quantities, he added.
