Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain on Saturday said the government had allowed the CNG station operators to convert their outlets into alternative auto gas fuel of LPG. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the first LPG outlet here, the minister said LPG was an alternative and cheap auto gas fuel.
According to him, the petroleum ministry is revisiting its LPG 2011 policy. "In our LPG 2012 Policy the prices of LPG would be de-linked from international prices to average local prices," he said. He said the country was facing a serious gas shortage problem due to poor planning of previous governments. The usage of gas was allowed in various sectors including power generation, transport, fertiliser and generators, without keeping in mind the fact that demand of gas would surpass its total production in the country. "Obviously, the supply-demand gap widened substantially and today we are facing an acute shortage of gas in the country", he added.
Dr Asim said the present government took over at a time when there was a global economic meltdown. The commodity prices in the international markets also saw an increasing trend which also affected local market prices, he added. The minister said according to a study, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) would supply LPG to meet local demand through its public sector terminal.
He asked the CNG filling stations to convert their outlets into LPG with a view to resolving the issue of gas shortage. He also requested the ministry of finance to offer some incentives to importers of LPG kits and dispensers to promote this alternative motor gas fuel in the local market.
Later, the minister told media persons that the government was planning to allocate weekly quota to the CNG stations all over the country. Speaking on the occasion, chairman Hascol Petroleum Limited Mumtaz Hasan Khan said his company had planned to establish 200 LPG filling stations all over the country in the next five years. "It is the first LPG filling station in the country," he said and added that the people would be seeing more such stations across Pakistan soon.
He said LPG kits were especially designed for cars, buses, rickshaws and other vehicles. He said the LPG demand in the local market increased to 3,500 tons in winter from 2,000 tons in summer. He said 50 percent of LPG demand in winter was met through import of this commodity. Pakistan has a storage capacity of 10,000 tons of LPG, according to him.
Salim Butt, COO of Hascol Petroleum, said they have received good response to the setting up of LPG filling stations. "We have received 400 applications and approved 26 to set up LPG filling stations in various parts of the country," he said and added that over 200 buses were also being converted into LPG. Later, the minister inaugurated the first LPG filling station owned by Hascol Petroleum Limited. Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Sabir Hussain was also present.