Month: February 2021

Asian LNG prices slip while US natural gas futures mark weekly gain

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Doha: Oil prices fell for a second day on Friday, retreating further from recent highs, as Texas energy companies began preparations to restart oil and gas fields shuttered by freezing weather and power outages. Brent crude futures ended the session down $1.02, or 1.6 percent, at $62.91 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.28, or 2.1 percent, to settle at $59.24. For the week, Brent gained about 0.5 percent while WTI fell about 0.7 percent.  Last week, both benchmarks had climbed to the highest in more…

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Govt to reduce IPPs’ gas tariff by 35%

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The federal government is all set to reduce gas tariff up to 35 per cent for the independent power producers (IPPs) operating on low quality gas in a bid to rank these plants in high merit order. This plan will result in putting burden on the consumers to cross-subsidize the gas for power plants and the rate of federal excise duty may also go up. According to the current formula, the government prioritizes the operation of those power plants which operate on cheaper fuel – dedicated gas which is low…

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Economic Policy

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Economic policy is four actions that governments take in the economic field: tax, government spending, interest rates and money supply. Our national debt is now growing at the rate of Rs18 billion a day. Our electricity sector now loses nearly Rs2 billion a day. Our State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) collectively end up losing Rs1.8 trillion a year. In the natural gas sector, unaccounted-for-gas now amounts to Rs1 billion a day. In the commodities sector, federal and provincial food departments have accumulated a debt of Rs753 billion. Public procurements by the…

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IMF’s expanding shadow

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After a prolonged suspension of close to 14 months in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $6 billion extended fund facility (EFF) to Pakistan, a staff-level agreement to release the third tranche of $500 million was reached this week. The resumption in the facility comes after the PTI government, after having resisted at first, was forced to hike power tariffs, energy prices and taxes. The most recent increase in the power tariff of Rs1.95 per unit, a 15% increase, was across the board, which meant that for the first time in…

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CPEC projects bring more than electricity to Pakistan

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CPEC projects not only bring electricity to us, but also train professionals, and contribute to the well-being of local people for Pakistan, said Muhammad Muneeb, a senior official of Sahiwal Coal-fired Power Station, who awarded the Outstanding Pakistani Employee of CPEC Project by the Chinese Embassy, according to a report published by Gwadar Pro on Saturday. The Sahiwal project, initiated in 2015, plays a crucial role in domestic electricity supply. Muneeb introduced to Gwadar Pro that Sahiwal lies in the industrial hub region between Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad. Its location…

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