If all the 2,000 CNG pumps in the country remain open for 24 hours and seven days a week then they would initially need 220 to 230mmcfd of gas. PHOTO: FILE
This will enable CNG stations to remain open 24 hours a day and seven days a week nationwide, industry officials told The Express Tribune on Saturday.
“We have completed almost 95% work on this front [importing LNG],” said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, chief executive officer of Universal Gas Distribution Company (UGDC).
UGDC (Private) Limited is a special vehicle firm set up with the aim to import LNG, market and sell it to CNG fuel stations nationwide that have been troubled with gas shortage.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) awarded it the licence on February 22, 2016. Earlier, Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources had also given their approvals.
The company has met the basic requirements of importing the gas in the private sector. These requirements include, “acquiring the licence and signing of the agreements with SSGC (Sui Southern Gas Company Limited) and SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited),” he said.
Agreements with two state-owned gas utility firms were a must as without availability of their infrastructure, the dispatch of gas to CNG pumps was impossible.
Paracha said if no change in government policies takes place in the next one month and working on import front goes smooth then “we will be ready to start the import of gas in the next one month”.
Meanwhile, an official said that no agreement has yet been signed between CNG people and Elengy Terminal for the imports, he said.
Pakistan government last year signed an agreement with Qatar Gas to import LNG for the next 15 years at the rate of 13.35% of Brent crude oil. However, it would not be necessary for a private importer to import it from Qatar Gas. It may import it from anywhere in the world via any firm, he said.
Paracha, who is also former chairman of All Pakistan CNG Association, said they are aiming to import 100mmcfd to end the shortfall at CNG pumps. The Elengy Terminal at Port Qasim is the only one terminal in the country where LNG is imported. It has the capacity to import a maximum of 400mmcfd in a day.
He said if all the 2,000 CNG pumps in the country remain open for 24 hours and seven days a week then they would initially need 220 to 230mmcfd. Later on, the requirement may decrease to 350mmcfd per day.
At present, around 800 CNG pumps remain open 24/7 in Punjab with the availability of 40-45mmcfd imported LNG on SNGPL infrastructure.
He said around 1,300 pumps were ready to do their part in importing and selling the gas. “A ship carrying 2,900mmcfd gas can be imported at a cost of Rs2-2.25 billion,” he said.
The cost for import is being arranged with the availability of advances and equity from CNG pumps and bank loans.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2016.
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