Year: 2020

owards competitive gas market 2.0

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ISLAMABAD: Competition and privatisation are the buzz words for economic growth and modernisation. Privatisation has had a chequered history in Pakistan. Lack of a developed private sector has prevented privatisation and vice versa. The elite, bureaucracy and their cronies and relatives have found relatively well-paid jobs in the public sector and have been opposing privatisation. Competition has been hijacked by collusive business mafia creating fear among people and policymakers of markets and competition. On the other hand, the regulated and control regime is bursting at its seams due to growth…

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ADNOC awards $519 million contract expanding world’s largest 3D seismic survey

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The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) awarded a contract worth up to $519 million (AED1.9 billion) to further expand the scope of the world’s largest combined three-dimensional (3D) onshore and offshore seismic survey, which is currently taking place in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The expansion underscores the important role seismic surveying plays in enabling ADNOC to identify and explore new hydrocarbon resources as highlighted by the recent major discoveries of recoverable unconventional oil resources and conventional oil reserves announced by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) earlier this…

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Highest gas wellhead prices, LPG margins making Pakistani gas costly for consumers

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Islamabad-The highest gas wellhead prices and LPG margins in the region is making Pakistani gas more expensive for the consumers. The wellhead prices of domestic gas and margin on LPG is higher respectively 33 per cent and 26 per cent than the regional countries, data available with The Nation reveals. The government seems to be focusing more on LNG prices and ignoring the high margins and wellhead prices on LPG and Natural gas respectively. By reducing the LPG margins and Wellhead gas prices the government can reduce the prices of…

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Overcoming the Gulf States’ oil curse

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How are the oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf, usually called the GCC countries, coping with the current pandemic crisis and other growing global pressures? The common assumption tends to be that with their fabulous wealth from floating for decades on seas of oil and gas the emirates and kingdoms of the region will all get through and overcome all challenges. But if that is what people think, then they should think again. In reality this is a time when almost everything is turning against these Arab states. Their most…

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Gas Load Shedding In Sindh: SSGC Denies Reports

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Amid strong opposition from key stakeholders, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) led by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has put on hold the unbundling of two gas utilities — Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) — until a comprehensive, feasible and time-bound road map for gas-sector reforms is available. He agrees that the unbundling of gas firms into transmission and distribution companies is not the objective per se and lessons should be learnt from power-sector reforms that began with the…

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