Islamabad:
Earlier, officials at Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) admitted to a parliamentary panel meeting on Thursday that its agreement with a private company on the conversion of natural gas to LPG could affect the gas supply to its consumers.
During a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for Petroleum – Prescribed by Mustafa Mahmood – noticed the yield – member Shahid Ahmed, that gas shortage is already in the country and that SSGC still plans to sign a contract with Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL).
SSGC officials confirmed that the contract would affect the local gas supply. They informed the committee that JJVL will convert gas to LPG and sell it to the private market.
The committee questioned whether this agreement would reduce Sui Southern’s gas supply and sought full details of the JJVL agreement at the next meeting.
The parliamentary panel also raised questions regarding deregulation of the petroleum sector.
Committee member Shahid Khan noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has abundant natural resources. He questioned whether a study had been conducted on these natural reserves. The committee sought details of investigations for the next meeting.
During the information on gas storage projects, officials said that gas storage facilities are needed in the country. They said there was a plan to build a new gas storage project in the country.
However, the Committee recommended to close the gas storage project and argued that necessity should be evaluated first.
MNA Sardar Ghulam Abbas noted that it was previously said there were large gold reserves in Balochistan. “Where are these reserves? First we have to verify what exists and what doesn’t,” he added,
The committee also expressed concern about the absence of the Prime Minister for Oil at the meeting. The chairman noted that the secretary’s petroleum was abroad, but the Minister of Oil should have attended the meeting.
Officials stated that a formula had been proposed by the Council for Common Interest (CCI) for deregulation of the petroleum sector and 35% of the newly discovered gas can be sold to the private sector. They said there is effort to deregulate the petroleum sector.
MNA Asad Niazi questioned what will happen to the provinces if deregulation occurs. Petroleum officials replied that Sindh had raised this question again in CCI.
