Govt asked to conduct forensic audit of IPPs

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics’ Power Commission has asked the government to conduct a forensic audit of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the wake of alleged inflated and fraudulent charges secured from the national exchequer. The PIDE’s Power Commission on Tuesday launched a book titled “Power Sector: An Enigma with No Easy Solution” It stated forensic audit of both public and private generation companies should be conducted, followed by recoveries without any relaxation from IPPs. There should be no conditionalities for IPPs in the pipeline. In the future, no sovereign…

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Gasoil margins jump

oil

Asia’s 10 ppm sulphur gasoil margins surged by more than 13% on Tuesday, helped by weather-related supply concerns in the US market, stronger oil futures and firmer demand expectations after China eased COVID curbs. Gains were curbed by uncertainty in China’s export volumes, pending the release of export quotas for 2023. Refining margins for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil rose to $37.98 a barrel. Cash differentials for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil rose to $1.60 a barrel, with prompt buying interest emerging amid a lack of competitively-priced offers. Jet fuel refining margins…

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Pakistan suffers a lot due to energy crisis, incurs Rs5tr losses: PIDE

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Power Commission has said that Pakistan had suffered a lot because of the energy crisis for many years and the country has incurred massive losses of more than Rs5 trillion. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) on Tuesday launched a book ‘Power Sector: An Enigma with No Easy Solution’ which has called for forensic audit of both public and private generation companies immediately, followed by recoveries without any relaxation for any IPPs, and asks for a complete halt on sovereign guarantees to investors in…

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Pakistan lacks infrastructure to import Russian gas

The import of gas from Russia is still a distant dream for Pakistan despite the two countries’ willingness to play ball. Analysts say the renewed discussion around gas imports from Russia won’t amount to much — at least in the short term — for two reasons. One, lack of infrastructure to handle gas imports; and two, inadequate capacity in the existing pipeline system to transport gas from one point to another. “Gas wouldn’t start flowing anytime soon even if we bought it today. The infrastructure isn’t there. The issue has…

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Agri consumers get relief in power tariff

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday slashed the power tariff by Rs3.60 per unit for the agriculture consumers under the Prime Minister Kissan Package 2022. A notification issued by the power regulator maintained that the basic tariff for agri consumers had been reduced to Rs13 per unit from Rs16.60 per unit at the request of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division). According the notification, the energy ministry on December 13 had requested Nepra to share its concurrence regarding Kissan Package 2022 for reduction in price of electricity…

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