ISLAMABAD: The government will en-sure just distribution of gas among all the sectors of the economy without any discrimination, Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui, caretaker Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources said. Talking to a select group of journalists here on Friday, he said the government won't allow Unaccounted for Gas (UfG) over 3 percent which is international standard.
Currently UfG stands at 11 percent in Pakistan and on this account an estimated 450 Million Cubic Feet per Day (mmcfd) gas is being wasted of total production of 4.3 Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) per day. The minister said consumer complaint cell will be set up at the petroleum ministry to address the grievances of gas consumers. The ministry will establish friendly relations with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).
"We are here for a limited period and have to tackle serious energy crisis, for this purpose within a week we will devise a viable plan to provide maximum relief to the masses during summer," Siddiqui added. He said in next few days he will complete meetings with the important organs of the petroleum ministry and will be in a position to share all the information with media.
To address the energy crisis good performance of the five important organisations including Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is vital.
A well-thought plan is being prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Power to deal with load-shedding. The ministry will ensure timely payments to PSO for purchase of furnace oil for power sector. "I being the head of the ministry will ensure good performance of all the departments under the ministry and nobody with bad performance will be allowed to be part of the ministry," he maintained.
Siddiqui said gas would be allocated to only efficient power plants and in this regard he has called a high level meeting of all the relevant stakeholders, adding that gas theft would not be tolerated in any case and all the consumers will be treated equally. The ministry will focus on just distribution of gas to all sectors of the economy. He said the ministry will try to resolve persisting financial issue of Pakistan State Oil. He maintained that the mandate of the caretaker set-up is to look after the State affairs during two months and in this period he along with his team will try to provide maximum relief to masses. He said development on Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project would continue as per the policy of the government.