Month: January 2021

ISLAMABAD: The liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply defaults last week by two foreign state-owned companies — Enoc and SOCAR — came as a blessing in disguise to Pakistan as two urgent replacement tenders for February fetched about 16-18 per cent cheaper rates as international market plunged. The urgent tender floated by state-run Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) for second half of next month attracted the lowest bid of $9.58 per million British thermal unit (MMBTU) or 19.5pc of Brent for Feb 21-22 window from Vitol Trading and $8 per MMBTU or…

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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government announced on Thursday Rs1.95 hike in the power tariff, which it blamed on the agreements made by the previous government with “bad-intentions and corrupt practices”. At a joint press conference with Planning Minister Asad Umar and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Power Tabish Gauhar, Energy Minister Omer Ayub Khan said the government had paid Rs473 billion subsidy to the power sector last year despite economic crunch and the Covid-19 pandemic. The minister said that that previous government intentionally installed power plants based on imported…

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The federal government and K-Electric are putting in place required infrastructure and new generators to lift power supply by 40%, or 900 megawatts, to the city of ports, parts of upper Sindh and Balochistan ahead of the forthcoming summer season. Ongoing efforts to reduce prolonged power outages during sweltering heat may, however, be partly jeopardised. The power utility has expressed a little bit of doubt about getting new gas connection for its under-construction power plant at Bin Qasim, Karachi. Speaking at a press conference the other day, K-Electric Chief Executive…

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The Privatisation Commission (PC) board on Thursday could not take decision on privatisation of power distribution companies due to Ministry of Energy’s failure to improve the poor condition of these companies over the past two and a half years. The Power Division has shown its inability to even prepare a roadmap for the privatisation of power distribution companies, saying it lacked the “capacity”, showed official documents. A meeting of the PC board ended inconclusively on the question of whether to outsource the management of electricity distribution companies as their privatisation…

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Amid a rising circular debt, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) has approved the disconnection of gas supply to industrial units for self-generation of electricity through captive power plants (CPPs) in a bid to divert gas to production of cheaper electricity. The disconnection of gas supply to industrial units will result in diversion of 150 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas, which will help add 3,000 megawatts of cheaper electricity to the national grid and reduce circular debt. The industrial units will be encouraged to take connections from…

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