Year: 2020

OGRA Slashes UFG Charges

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In a landmark decision, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday decided to slash the unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) benchmark for liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumers, a move that would lead to a major reduction in prices. UFG is defined as losses and leakages of gas in systems of gas distribution companies, which they charge from the consumers. Earlier, Ogra had allowed 11-17% UFG recovery to the gas utilities on the distribution of LNG to the consumers. Now, Ogra has come to the knowledge that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC)…

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Autonomous NEPRA, SBP a must to revive IMF deal

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In a bid to qualify for the third loan tranche of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, Pakistan will have to amend two laws to give autonomy to the central bank and legal mandate to the power sector regulator for notifying new electricity prices. “Amendments to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Act and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act are expected to become prior actions for the approval of second review of the Fund programme,” said Kamran Afzal, special secretary and spokesman for the Ministry of Finance. These…

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$5.8B Reko Diq Dispute Award: Pakistan, Tethyan Talking

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The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) last year ordered Pakistan to pay damages of $5.84 billion to Tethyan Copper – a joint venture between Chile’s Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold – for blocking Tethyan from developing the Reko Diq copper asset after it had already sunk more than $220 million into the project in Balochistan. The ICSID in July 2019 announced $6 billion award against Pakistan which included $4 billion penalty and almost $2 billion in interest as damages payable to Tethyan. Odds appear to…

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African Oil Producers Face Slump In Production

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The five largest producers of crude oil in Africa face a combined production decline of 19 percent as a result of the pandemic’s effect on oil demand and the acceleration of energy transition efforts, according to a new report by PwC. The Africa oil and gas review 2020 notes that the pandemic has caused the worst oil industry crisis in history and that oil demand will likely never recover to pre-pandemic levels. This demand loss will also drive lower revenues for oil exporters, the authors of the reports said, helped…

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Ghana Tells Eni To Merge Oil Field With Local Discovery

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Ghana has told Italy’s Eni to merge its Sankofa offshore discovery with another field, discovered by a locally based company, Bloomberg reports, citing a letter by Ghanaian Energy Minister John-Peter Amewu. The letter follows the failure of Eni and the local company, Springfield Exploration and Production, to reach an agreement on how to develop the fields jointly. Eni, which operates the Sankofa discovery together with commodity trading giant Vitol, is against the move, according to the report, arguing that Springfield has not made sufficient tests at its discovery, Afina, to…

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