Private sector urged to invest in K-P oil and gas sector

CM’s adviser on power and energy says govt needs investors

PESHAWAR: Private sector investment is needed to start work on oil and gas blocks in southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said CM’s Adviser for Energy and Power Himayat Ullah Khan.

“Private sector should come forward to invest in power and energy sector of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” he said addressing to a National conference on Innovative partnership to Accelerate Sustainable Energy in K-P.

“K-P has the potential to generate 30,000 megawatts of electricity through natural resources, however the government is in need of private sector cooperation in order to fully exploit the potential,” he said at the conference was jointly organised by Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation and US-Pakistan center for advanced studies in energy, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar.

The Ambassador of South Korea, Vice Chancellor University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar Dr. iftikhar Hussain, Additional Chief Secretary Mr. Shahzad Bangash, Secretary Energy Mr. Sarfaraz Durrani, Center for Advanced Studies in energy Dr. Najeeb, Chief Executive Officer PEDO Mr Bahader Shah were attended the conference.

The purpose of the conference is to bring together government officials, energy sector professionals, academicians and representative from donor agencies and private firms to discuss investment opportunities in the province’s energy resources.

Adviser said that in current provincial government several power projects are being done rapidly, which will generate a total of 220MW of electricity, for the purpose of producing oil and gas reserves in the southern districts of the province, private investment is required to start work on multiple blocks.

Himayat said that the current government is working on numerous energy projects which will generate nearly 4,000MW of electricity to help overcome the current energy crisis. Besides, power projects will be a major source of employment as well as help in economic uplift the province.’

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2019.