Month: September 2020

Priority gas rights obsolete as all provinces face shortages’

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ISLAMABAD: Warning of an impending serious gas shortage, the federal government on Tuesday said the Article 158 of the Constitution that promised priority rights to gas producing provinces was becoming irrelevant and all stakeholders would have to reach a consensus on a workable way forward. “We will be going towards massive (gas) load shedding in the coming days. We have to find a solution today how to increase supplies”, said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar at a news conference with Federal Energy Minister Omar…

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A good-sized gas discovery in Kalat

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Amid a growing gas crisis in the country, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has stumbled upon what can easily be deemed as fairly decent gas reserves deep in the Balochistan province. The discovery of hydrocarbons, though significant in itself, promises to usher in a new chapter in the country’s oil and gas exploration sector. More than 70 years on, the energy crisis has been persistently eating into Pakistan’s growth. Power and gas outages plaguing the domestic and industrial sectors, coupled with a ballooning circular debt, have largely hindered progress. As the…

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Who’s seeking removal of KE CEO?

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ISLAMABAD: The federal government’s “Dubai Group” is reportedly behind the move to remove Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Karachi Electric (KE), Moonis Alvi for ostensibly not bringing any improvement in the power utility’s generation, distribution and transmission system, well-informed sources told Business Recorder. On Monday, a high-level meeting presided over by Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub decided to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Waseem Mukhtar to resolve KE’s issues in the light Supreme Court directions. Meanwhile, KE’s Board of Directors also held a meeting to deliberate on…

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Govt-owned power plants: Payables to be settled at par with settlement with IPPs

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ISLAMABAD: The federal government has reportedly decided to settle payables of government-owned power plants amounting to Rs 357 billion as of June 2020 at par with settlement with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), well-informed sources told Business Recorder. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) headed by the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar. The decision was ratified by the Cabinet. The government has also decided that return on equity of the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park should also be included for reduction to 17 per…

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Costly, dirty, and excessive: Report rings alarm bells over Pakistan’s fossil fuel-heavy power plans

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If all plans for its electricity sector go ahead, the South Asian nation risks having a glut of coal and gas power capacity, with fleets running at a fraction of their capacity, warns a new study. akistan risks locking itself into polluting and expensive electricity generation capacity if it follows energy strategies laid out in its latest power expansion plan, a new The power plan, published by state-owned utility firm National Transmission and Despatch Company in April, charts a development pathway for the country’s electricity generation sector over the next 27…

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