ISLAMABAD: Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Sunday that the world had entered a golden age of power generation and natural gas had emerged as the most important fuel in this regard. The minister was of the view that Pakistan’s future was also linked to gas.
In a meeting with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Abdul Rauf Alam, Abbasi said that gas was the cheapest source for power generation and had overtaken hydel power as dozens of countries were converting their power plants to gas.
The minister said that quick import of gas from Iran and Turkmenistan was not possible while local production had remained stagnant since the last fifteen years.
Abbasi informed that the number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and regasification plants was being increased to alleviate the energy crisis, adding that hydel power generation cost three times more than gas-based power production under the current oil prices.
He said that only two countries, Pakistan and Somalia were using RON 87 grade petrol while we continued to import world’s dirtiest diesel, adding that the situation however would change in January 2017 as we would start importing diesel of Euro 2 standard.
The minister said that Kuwait was a major oil producing country which was using imported LNG for production of electricity while Pakistan was producing 8000 megawatts of electricity from fuel.
The FPCCI president said that deregulation of CNG prices was a very wise decision by the government and it would result in the revival of CNG industry.
Alam said, “CNG business can become viable when the price difference with petrol is twenty percent minimum,” adding that CNG was being sold in litres and kilogrammes across Pakistan and needed standardisation.
“We unconditionally support the initiatives of the government to increase the percentage of gas in the national energy mix,” he said.
