The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) Thursday decided to seek the federal cabinet's approval for one-time import of furnace oil, as 350,000 metric tonnes furnace oil is needed to meet energy requirements for the months of May and June 2019. A meeting of CCoE was held here with Asad Umar in the chair, where serious concerns were shown over longer duration of electricity load shedding.
The committee decided that there would be no load shedding during Sehri and Iftar in Ramazan and directed the Power Division to ensure uninterrupted supply of power in this regard. While giving presentation to the committee, the Petroleum Division stated that it needs 350,000 metric tonnes furnace oil so as to meet energy requirements of the country for the months of May and June 2019. The committee decided to place the matter for approval before federal cabinet to allow a one-time import of furnace oil.
The CCoE on December 5, 2018 imposed a ban on the import of furnace oil for power generation purposes. This direction was later reiterated by the CCoE twice in its meetings held on December 26, 2018 and January 8, 2019.
The Petroleum Division received furnace oil demand of about 1.17 million tonnes from the Power Division for the period from April to August 2019 for operating as well as stocking requirements. In addition to RFO demand by the Power Division, K-Electric also placed a demand of around 0.6 million tonnes for April to August 2019.
The CCoE expressed concerns over complaints of longer duration of load shedding in the rural areas and asked the Power Division to adopt uniformed policy for load management in the urban and rural areas and no discrimination should be made in this regard. The Power Division presented its Internal Audit Report on quarterly indexation by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). The report found that the Nepra had used high exchange rates during determination of quarterly indexation.
The committee asked the Power Division to ascertain from the regulator whether it has judicially applied its mind while determining the exchange rates. The regulator should also be asked to indicate the remedial measures for rectifying the mistake, for the future and to determine how the losses incurred, if any, can be made good. The Power Division briefed the committee about its recovery campaign being carried out against the defaulters. It stated that the recovery campaign had achieved its objectives by collecting Rs 318,264 million from November 2018 to February 2019 and arresting 4,225 defaulters.
The finance minister appreciated the performance of the Power Division in this regard. The CCoE was also updated on Renewable Energy Policy, 2019 and was informed that the draft policy has been circulated among relevant quarters and would be submitted to the cabinet in the first half of May 2019.
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