Govt LNG decision hailed, termed highly significant

Islamabad, August 4 (Online Int’l): ICCI former President Shahid Rasheed Butt on Tuesday lauded the decision of the government to allow the private sector to import gas for its utilization and sale to other consumers.

This is one of the major decisions of the government which will change the energy landscape of the country, provide relief to masses and the business community and make millions of new jobs available to the masses, he said.

The move will an end the monopoly of state-run companies, trigger competition, reduce the price of gas, make production and exports competitive and provide relief to the masses, he added.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that LNG terminals have never operated according to their capacity resulting in heavy losses that are shifted to the gas consumers.

The utilization of only one terminal was 62 percent in 2018-19 and 51 percent in 2019-20 and the losses of over 70 million dollars were shifted to consumers, which was unjustified, he said.

Enhanced utilization of LNG terminals by the private sector will reduce the gas tariff and masses will no more be burdened due to the blunders of the bureaucracy, he noted.

The business leader said that Azerbaijan has offered LNG for $2.2 per MMBtu that is up to 450 percent cheaper than what major players have offered to Pakistan and this golden opportunity should not be missed.
He said that the government should improve demand and supply forecasting system, other matters should be tackled on priority and necessary rules should be finalized without delay to get maximum benefit of the opportunity.

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