Category: Shortcode

Pakistan could be teetering on the brink of yet another fuel crisis. It is about time the policymakers take decisive actions that can eliminate such threats for good. A few days ago, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), the representative body for the downstream petroleum industry, warned that a fuel shortage might occur in some regions of the country in the near future since some oil companies experienced higher-than-expected sales last month while imports had been limited. The increase in sales can be attributed to the rise in demand from…

Read More

Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) is likely to stop operations within the next 7-8 days due to higher stocks of Furnace Fuel Oil (FFO) as the refinery is now operating on 60 per cent capacity, which may also hit supply of J-1 to Islamabad Airport and JP-8 to Pakistan Air Force, well informed sources told Business Recorder. The main reason for the higher stocks of furnace oil is that the country’s electricity requirement is about 12,000-MW due to which the government is not allowing operations of furnace oil-fired power plants. “If situation…

Read More

Policy changes and uncertainties in Pakistan have been a major bane for consumers and businesses alike. With frequently changing governments, important policies are made, changed, and scrapped just as rapidly. Solar energy, unfortunately, has not been an exception. Championed as one of the greatest assets for this country, solar energy has not been fully exploited to our benefit, nor has its progress been sustained. Instead, its progress has been hampered due to these constant policy changes. Three such policies, which (un)surprisingly have all occurred within this year, are highlighted in…

Read More

France has approved legislation that will require all car parks with more than 80 spaces to be covered over by solar panels. This is part of a wider program that will see solar panels occupy derelict lots, vacant land alongside roads and railways, as well as some farmland. This is expected to add 11 gigawatts to the French electricity grid equal to ten nuclear reactors. Do the numbers add up? And should other countries do the same? Several countries, most notably Germany, have already mandated developers of new buildings to…

Read More

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) will hear the SSGC plea for the hike in consumer tariff for Sindh and Balochistan tomorrow. The Sui Southern Gas Company has requested to the regulator for 96.36 percent hike in the gas tariff. The gas utility has asked for an increase in the gas tariff by 667.44 rupees per MMBTU. The gas company has requested to the OGRA to fix the gas tariff at 1360 rupees per MMBTU. Presently the gas tariff of the Sui Southern has been fixed at 692.63 rupees…

Read More