Reko Diq: Saga of bliss or bane?

Not too far from the besieged government, bright stars of the private sector are carefully preparing to dig their heels deeper in the business landscape of Pakistan. In the midst of a historic health crisis, besides negotiating mounting political, economic and diplomatic pressures, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government is struggling to deal with the embarrassment and hefty fine in a case that Pakistan lost to Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). National Resource Ltd (NRL), however, has occupied itself with a singular…

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OGRA issues 4 notifications determining RLNG price from Aug to Nov

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Wednesday issued four notifications, determining the sale price of imported Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) for the months of August, September, October and November. According to a notification issued for the current month, the authority has fixed per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) RLNG price at $7.6584 on the system of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), while $7.3966 per MMBTU for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC)’s network. For the month of October, the RLNG price has been determined at $7.4140…

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Govt forms body to conduct forensic audit of dry wells

Amid fast depletion of existing hydrocarbon deposits and increased energy demand, the Petroleum Division has constituted a team to conduct a forensic audit of the dry/shut-in wells drilled in different parts of the country by exploration & production (E&P) companies. According to sources, a four-member core committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Dr Naseem Ahmed (ex-ED/MD OGDCL) to formulate a forensic team to analyze dry/shut-in wells in detail and submit its report within a month. The country’s existing gas production is around 3.7 billion cubic feet per day…

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OGRA Slashes UFG Charges

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

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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