POL prices to be reviewed: petroleum minister

Ghulam Sarwar Khan says LNG agreements will be made public

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Friday said that all major agreements in oil and gas sector, particularly those which were kept hidden, including LNG would be made public and placed on ministry’s official website.

Diesel is the fuel of common man but it has become expensive but they would review its prices and ensure to make its price at par with the price of petrol, said Sarwar while addressing a press conference here on Friday.

Back in 2004, Diesel was cheaper than petrol but now its price is higher than the petrol and the government would review it, he further said.

Sarwar said the prices of petroleum products and taxes would be reviewed and fixed in accordance with the international market.



Replying to a query, the minister said that all major agreements particularly those which were hidden would be examined and placed on ministry’s official website. The ministry would examine itself all such agreements before any step of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he added.

He said efforts would be made to start of Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI) project by 2019. Regarding Iran Pakistan gas pipeline the minister said that the federal government was not moving ahead with the project due to sanctions imposed on Iran.

Iran may try to go to International court against Pakistan, however, the government would try to avoid reaching such situation.

He said that efforts would be made to improve the local production of refined and crude petroleum products which is presently at 15 per cent against 85 per cent of imports.

The ministry would strengthen the role of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited to improve local production, he added.

The minister said Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has discovered new oil exploration of 23 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) at district Sanghar of Sindh with production of 91 barrels per day.

He said the country has rich oil resources, which would be focused on and explored in coming days for improving local production.



He said that they would take independent briefing from the 15 companies working under the petroleum division. In the past these companies were operated on adhocism but it was a political decision, he added.

Under new policy, in future no official would be allowed to hold duplicate, acting or additional charge along with actual charge in the ministry and attached companies, Ghulam Sarwar said. He added professionals would be appointed on all vacant posts through advertisement.

He said that in line with the policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan, efforts would be made to minimise the expenditures to protect the available resources while steps will also be taken to further minimise the line losses and other leakages in petroleum sector.

Sarwar said the ministry is facing big challenges but now there will be zero tolerance regarding corruption at any level. “I will not use official vehicle and all the officials of the division has to return their additional official vehicles,” he announced.