Looking forward: CNG stations to start receiving LNG from March

Minister says gas import to revive CNG business as alternative to petrol.

ISLAMABAD:

In a bid to address the woes of the CNG industry, it has been announced that the sector in Punjab will receive the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in March this year, which will be imported from Qatar.

“LNG import will provide a boost to the CNG industry and the first cargo may go to the sector,” Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said while addressing a press conference.

He said that the government would give LNG to the CNG industry from its share as an interim arrangement, which would provide relief to the consumers while easing the pressure on petrol.

Abbasi added that the CNG industry was closed for three months during the winter season and LNG would revive the business in addition to increasing employment.



He maintained that the CNG industry would also import LNG and the government would play the role of a facilitator. The government has also allowed CNG stations to relocate on main pipelines.

“Revival of CNG business would help establish an alternative fuel system, which will not be affected by petrol scarcity, hence providing relief to the masses.”

The minister praised the CNG sector for taking the initiative to import LNG to overcome the crisis and gave them assurances that the government is fully cooperating in this regard.

“After the arrival of LNG, annual demand of petrol in Punjab would come down by almost two billion litres,” he said. “We have offered fiscal incentives for the import of LNG so that the once-vibrant sector can again see the boom.”

He asked other industrial groups to follow in the footsteps of the CNG sector to address their energy problems.

“We will also provide pipeline capacity for 100 mmcfd of LNG to meet the need of the CNG industry,” he said and added that LNG would be cheaper by 30% compared to the price of petrol.

Abbasi denied that the government had any intention to link the base price of Brent crude at $80 per barrel to LNG import from Qatar. “We will start supplying 320 mmcfd of LNG within a week from March,” he added.

He said that the petroleum ministry was also in talks with the water and power ministry to allocate LNG for power plants.

He said the government was also working on laying an LNG pipeline from Karachi to Lahore to pump gas which would be enough to produce 9,000MW of electricity.

“A protocol has been signed with a Russian firm to lay this pipeline,” said Abbasi.

Addressing the Gwadar LNG terminal issue, he said that the government is in the process of finalising a deal to lay the pipeline with a Chinese firm to connect it with Iran.

Giving details, he said the Chinese firm, which had laid four pipelines from Turkmenistan to China, would complete this pipeline by 2016. He maintained that talks with Iran were under way to amend the agreement of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline.

Responding to a question, Abbasi said that the country had stock of 112,000 tons of petrol for nine days and 400,000 tons of diesel for 18 days.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2015.

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