Month: December 2020

ISLAMABAD: A brief hiatus in oil smuggling due to the closure for a few days of the Pak-Iran border during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, badly affected the entire supply chain of petroleum products in Pakistan. The findings of an inquiry commission on the shortage of petroleum products states that the smuggling of Iranian oil is a reality. “The quantum of smuggling through the land route [is] approximated at Rs250 billion.” The report said the government must sensitise the concerned agency to take strict measures at the Pak-Iran…

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ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar has said that Pakistan would auction 20 new oil and gas exploration blocks during the next month as part of its strategy to achieve self-reliance in the energy sector. “Bids for the auction are expected to be held by mid-January to encourage exploration activities in the country,” he said in an interview with the Bloomberg, a US-based news agency. The SAPM said Pakistan, in collaboration with Russia, would start building a 1,100 kilometer (684 miles) gas pipeline to…

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SINGAPORE: Surging spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) are exacerbating a gas supply crunch in key fast-growing emerging markets in Asia just as a cold spell in other parts of the region boosts demand for the fuel. Companies from Pakistan to China have cancelled a flurry of LNG tenders this week, several trade sources said, as lofty prices risk pushing up the input costs of industries, which could make energy more expensive for consumers. Benchmark Asia spot LNG prices LNG-AS have soared sevenfold since May to six-year highs, driven…

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