KARACHI, Aug 27 (APP): Addressing a ceremony hosted by Pakistan Gas Port Consortium in Karachi on Sunday, the Prime Minister said the government is committed to supply gas to every corner of the country.
He said the government wants to reduce dependence on oil for energy production in the country.
He said the government was fixing the power crises of
the country and soon the load-shedding would be a thing of the
past.
He said it was all possible due to the huge contribution
by LNG sector and referred to Engro terminal with re-gasify
capacity of 600mmscf and 100 per cent capacity by utilizing
4.5 million tons of LNG.
The prime minister expressed his confidence that soon in
2018, the terminals in the country would be able to utilizing
9 million tons of LNG for the next five year.
He said it was all possible due to synergy of these
terminals, great efficiency and the cheapest lowest gas term
contract in the world.
The prime minister said the LNG market was much larger
and competition was hard so it was a ‘win win situation’ for
the private sector, government and the people.
The private sector would be bringing in their own LNG,
regasifying it and delivering it to customers through third
party access regime which had already been put in place, he
said, adding thus, there would be a system in which customers
would be free to opt for purchase of LNG on their own.
The prime minister said the government would stay out of
buying LNG and building terminals as it would be done by the
private sector.
The government would step in only when the private
sector failed to meet the demand, he added.
He said the LNG community in the world had already
appreciated government’s efforts in this regard.
The government’s vision was to deliver LNG in any
quantity to any customer in any part of the country and eyeing
complete replacement of furnace based energy plants in 2019.
The prime minister termed LNG import ‘a game changer for
Pakistan’ as the fifty per cent primary supply for energy was
being made from gas.
“Nawaz Sharif had decided not to go for ground breaking
of the projects but for completion of projects,” he said and
referred to long awaited completion of Lowari Tunnel.
The prime minister said the PML-N government was for
completion of projects despite the political upheavals.
He said the second LNG project was an equity based with
no debt on the project, reflecting confidence of the
investors.
The prime minister announced that the government did not
invest a penny in these projects rather it was upto the
private parties. It had only leveraged their demands and
ensured transparent bids.
The investing companies would not get a penny unless
they started delivering gas.
The asset value for the second LNG project must be over
$300 million and that too for the fifteen years as projects
spoke for themselves, he added.
APP/Zaheer
