Chairman of All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association, Irfan Khokhar has proposed the world's LPG industry players to form an international group of experts to share experiences and expertise for safety in the LPG industry to avoid incidents. A two-day 12th LPG trade summit concluded on Tuesday held in Dubai.
In a telephonic talk to Business Recorder, Khokhar said that several incidents have been happening in different countries including Pakistan, adding that it would be good initiative for world LPG industry leaders to form international forum in this regard.
The proposal has been appreciated by the LPG industry players who attended the meeting, Khokhar added. According to him, he informed the participants of summit that Prime Minister of Pakistan had approved a new LPG policy to regulate prices for stabilizing the market. He said the LPG import in Pakistan is growing during last few years to meet domestic needs.
He said the auto sector in Pakistan had emerged as a big customer of the LPG and in future, demand of the LPG would increase further. He informed the participants that the government is working to provide a level playing field for investors for setting up LPG filling stations in Pakistan.
He said the LPG demand in Pakistan would further increase due to setting up of LPG stations in 2018. He informed that the government is working with the gas regulator and LPG industry stakeholders to ensure safety standards. He said that the total sale of LPG in Pakistan stood at 1.2 million tons in 2016 and out of it; the share of LPG import was 550000 metric tons. He said that this consumption would reach 2.4 million metric tons next year with setting up of LPG filling stations. The consumption would rise to 3 million tons in 2020, he added.
The summit was attended by representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Norway, Europe, South Korea, China, Indonesia, United States, Africa and India. The representatives of Pakistani Companies; Pyramid Gas Limited, International Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd and Petrohub Limited also attended the summit.