Shortage stops Pak to issue new gas connections; under IMF pressure, govt to 'jack up' price by 74%

Islamabad: Amid food shortage owing to severe economic crisis situation in Pakistan, the country’s Parliament was informed that the nationwide shortage of gas and ban on new connections would stay for the next few years thereby putting no end to the misery. Pakistan’s Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik informed the Senate on Tuesday that Shehbaz Sharif-led government has prepared two new policies aimed at overcoming the problem of gas shortage. He said that the policies are almost ready and would be unveiled in the next couple of weeks, Dawn reported. While one of the two policies was about reopening the closed wellheads, the other was related to exploration of tight gas, Malik mentioned during the question hour. However, the results of the Pakistani government’s initiatives would not put an end to the crisis situation anytime soon as the minister made it clear that the outcome of the two policies would start accruing in three to four years due to the time-consuming exploration process, the report said. No new gas connections While there is an acute shorage of gas, Musadik Malik informed the Pakistan’s Parliament that it would be unwise to give new connections under the prevailing circumstances. Out of the total of 3,200mmcft of gas produced, 200 was used for extraction and 1,400mmcft went directly from the wells to power and fertiliser sectors, the minister noted. Shockingly, 680mmcft was supplied to domestic consumers in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the months of December and January against the demand of 1,400mmcft. Pakistan’s depleting gas production During his address in the upper house of Parliament, the Minister of State for Petroleum said that Pakistan’s gas production was depleting by eight to 10 per cent every year. Hence, the ban on new connections was in national interest, he stated. The ban on new gas connections was clamped during the regime of Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, said Musadik Malik, adding that the previous government had also amended the Ogra law to bar new connections till the gap between demand and supply was met. The minister termed it as a correct decision and clarified that there was no need to revisit it. IMF asks Pakistan to jack up gas tariff for revival of programme Sharing the lists of prerequisite actions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told authorities in Pakistan that the country will have to move towards implementing all demands for reviving the stalled fund programme, ARY News quoted sources as saying. In the gas sector particularly, IMF has sought settlement of circular debt for the revival of the stalled loan programme, sources said. Pakistan has to jack up the gas price up to 74 per cent to fix the circular debt, they added. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.