Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that a national consensus is must to tackle the ongoing situation of natural gas in Pakistan.

Addressing a seminar on Natural Gas Supply, the PM said he is grateful to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for renegotiating the contracts with the government. He further said that the nation will be apprised about the savings to be accrued from these contracts next week.

The PM regretted that no long term planning was done in the past to cope with the energy crisis, adding that if the country had debated on which fuel to use to produce electricity, they would not be facing such a crisis.

He added that 27 percent of households have access to piped gas whilst the remaining rely on the LPG cylinders which is four times more expensive than the piped gas.

The PM continued that subsidies are either given to people who lack basic necessities or to remote areas that do not have adequate facilitation.