Day: January 8, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The government has called another meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday for constitution of a price negotiation committee for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) Pipeline and settlement of about Rs75 billion liabilities to state-run entities. To be presided over by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the second meeting of the ECC within a week will be presented a case for payment of Rs28bn dues to the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) on account of foreign exchange loss besides settlement of Rs38.12bn loans…

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President Site Association of Industry, Suleman Chawla, has urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to issue immediate order to cancel Nepra permission to K-Electric to collect fuel charges adjustment (FCA) of three years (from July 2016 to June 2019) from the consumers. Rejecting the permission granted by Nepra to K-Electric to collect fuel charges adjustment (FCA) of three years (from July 2016 to June 2019) from the consumers in next 9 months and has appealed Prime Minister Imran Khan to look into the matter and do needful to give relief to…

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The two state companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), have been given task to set up 30 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) air mix plants to cater the domestic gas needs, sources said. Sources maintained that the plants are aimed at providing gas facility to the population in the areas where facility of natural gas is not available and discouraging deforestation. At the plants, the LPG will be mixed with air to produce synthetic gas for onward supply to the consumers through distribution…

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This is with reference to the news item ‘Gas Billing: What’s SSGC upto?’ appearing in the Business Recorder dated January 6th, 2020. The news item needs a few clarifications that are stated below. “At the outset, it must be clarified that SSGC bills its over 3 million customers through a well-defined billing programme to account for 365 days’ gas sale in a year. “Each customer is billed on an approximate 30 days with a possible two-day variation on either side viz-a-viz 28 to 32 days that is sometimes necessitated to meet the…

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Minister for Petroleum Omar Ayub Khan has informed the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum on Monday that the federal government has written letters to the provincial government of Sindh eight times for construction of 125 km gas pipeline to meet gas deficit in winter. The minister said that Sindh government did not give right of way for the construction of gas pipeline despite repeated requests from the federal government. He further said that Sindh government did not coordinate with the federal government in shutting down CNG plants in winter. The…

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The federal government will take up the weighted average of gas and rights of provinces under Article 158 and 18th constitutional amendment to the Council of Common Interests (CCI). PM’s Special Assistant on Petroleum Nadeem Babar talking to a select group of journalists here on Monday claimed that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was nearly convinced on the much-heated and debated issues of gas by resolving the issue of gas distribution in Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGCL) system. Province of Sindh is producing 2360 mmcfd gas whereas it receives…

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ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the centre on Monday claimed to have secured a broad agreement with the Sindh government for introduction of a significantly higher weighted average cost of natural gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) in future to streamline supplies. At the same time, Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar blamed the Sindh government for ongoing gas shortfall in various parts of the country. They were briefing print media journalists here on Monday. “We have to…

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ISLAMABAD: With­drawing a couple of key amendments on the objections of the power regulator, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday cleared amendments to the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electronic Power Act 1997 to meet conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The amendments to the Nepra Act are required under the IMF programme to recover additional cost of losses from consumers by imposing new surcharges aimed at financing power sector loans and generate more than Rs250 billion in annual revenue to address about…

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