ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum considered a public petition submitted by the women of Juman Rajper, Taluka District Naushehro Feroze regarding supply of gas to their village, briefings of advantages of Euro 5 fuel and closure of PSO depot in Kohat.
Details of new and on-going projects of the PSDP, projects of Petroleum Division and present status of recommendations of meetings held on 20 January, 2020 regarding laying of 19 kms main line from Lower Tope to Lora via Bansra were also discussed. The case of regularization of engineers from Balochistan working at the OGDCL was discussed in-camera.
While considering the Public Petition submitted by the women of Juman Rajper, Taluka District Naushehro Feroze regarding supply of gas to their village, the Committee was informed that a survey had been conducted for project feasibility. The main findings were that supply main would require a 1,400 km extension to reach the village.
Distribution mains entail 2,000 Km.
The project cost is PKR 9,040 million.
Since the per customer cost of the above scheme works out to be PKR 114,430, which exceeds the maximum average cost per customer criterion of PKR 54000 approved by the Government of Pakistan for Sindh.
The scheme could be considered for implementation, if the federal/provincial governments and the SNGPL would invest in cost criteria of PKR 4,774 million in accordance with Natural Gas Allocation and Management Policy 2005.
While being briefed about the advantages of Euro 5 fuel and its comparison to other fuel types, the Committee was informed that the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) considered the proposal for import of Euro-V diesel/petrol in its meeting held on 4th June, 2020.
It was decided that all imports of petrol/diesel shall conform to Euro-V specifications. The Committee was informed that currently imports of petrol with Euro-V specifications have begun, whereas diesel imports will commence from January, 2021.
Chairman Committee Senator Mohsin Aziz lauded this measure, and said that this is major step towards environmental conservation and that Pakistan is going in the right direction. He added that he would write to the ministry on behalf of the Committee to laud this measure.
Discussing details of the closure of PSO depot in Kohat, the Committee was informed that approx PKR 100 billion would be required for its revamping and cannot begin without ECC's approval. The Committee asserted that economic viability must be ensured before embarking on the project.
The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum meeting was held on Friday at the Parliament House presided over by Senator Mohsin Aziz. In this connection, a letter has been written to the Petroleum Division for the release of funds.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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