No way out yet to bail out refineries from ullage crisis

The Petroleum Division has so far failed to wriggle the country’s refineries out of the ullage crisis that prompted them to operate with lower throughput because of increasing stock of the furnace oil in their storages, a senior official at the Energy Ministry told The News. Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Energy, on January 6, 2022 asked the refineries to provide subsidy on furnace oil prices, so that the use of product for power generation could be implemented. The furnace oil at discounted price will enable the government to match…

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Illegal appointment of NTDC chairman: LHC orders Cabinet Division to decide matter in 60 days

The Lahore High Court has directed Cabinet Division secretary to decide within 60 days a matter regarding the alleged illegal appointment of chairman of the National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC). Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued the order disposing of a petition challenging the appointment of Naveed Ismail as the NTDC chairman. After arguing at length, the petitioner’s counsel stated before the court that he would be satisfied if the petition was converted into a representation and sent to the secretary Cabinet Division, Islamabad, for consideration. A law officer of…

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Federal govt’s permission sought: Punjab to begin development process on waste-fired power projects

The Punjab government has sought permission from federal government to initiate process for development of waste-fired power projects of cumulative capacity of 150MW, in seven big cities under ARE Policy 2019. The permission has been sought by Managing Director, Punjab Power Development Board (PPDB) in a letter to Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar. The Managing Director also gave reference of a meeting between Federal Minister for Energy with Provincial Minister for Energy Punjab and Energy Department, GoPb officers on January 6, 2022 wherein development of Waste to Energy (WtE) projects…

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FBR unfreezes PIA bank accounts after brief suspension

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday froze Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) bank accounts over non-payment of federal excise duty (FED) on air tickets, but later restored them after it was assured of early payment of dues. According to the apex revenue collector, PIA had to pay Rs4.5 billion in federal excise duty, which it has been charging its passengers on tickets for the last two years. A total of 50 PIA accounts were frozen to make recovery. FBR had recovered Rs465 million so far and the accounts would remain…

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Karot power project connected to national grid

Over 95% civil and electromechanical works of 720 megawatts Karot hydropower plant have been done and the project has entered into commissioning phase, two senior officials of Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) told Gwadar Pro. Karot HPP is among the early-harvest high-priority projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative. The run-of-river project has iconic importance being a source of sustainable, low-cost, clean and green energy. China Three Gorges Corp. (CTG) is developing the $2 billion project as an independent power producer (IPP). In the coming months, each of…

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