Bhasha Dam is mere in papers till now, says petroleum minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said he have been listening about Bhasha Dam since 2000 but the water reservoir is mere in papers till now.

Sarwar was addressing as chief guest Energy Forum 2018 here at OGDCL Auditorium. Distinguished guests from Oil & Gas sector, MD/CEOs of Exploration and Production Companies (E&P) attended the Forum. Secretary Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) Mian Asad Hayaud Din and other senior officers of the Ministry were also present on the occasion.

Federal Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that the purpose of holding the Energy Forum by Ministry of Petroleum is to get the expert opinion and advice of all stakeholders related to petroleum sector of the country.

He noted that the presence of experts in this energy forum would give the government new line of action in the oil and gas sector.

The federal minister said that presently we are facing energy crisis, as only in 1960, mega dams were constructed which were of multi purposes but after that no dam could be constructed.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan said “we have been listening about Bhasha Dam since Year 2000 but the Bhasha Dam is mere in papers still now.”

He said that presently we are facing gas and energy crisis as our import bill of petroleum products including LNG and LPG is all over $12 billion. We cannot continue to expand such high amount of foreign exchange every year on the import of petroleum products, he said.

He said that there must be good intention for doing any work and the present government wanted to take practical steps for the betterment of country and our future generation.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairperson OGRA, Uzma Adil Khan said that merger of upstream regulation with OGRA should be done after consultations with the federal and provincial stakeholders.