Khaqan Abbasi rules out petrol shortage

ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said the country has sufficient stock of petrol and there is no chance of any shortage of commodity in the country.
He was briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum, which met in Islamabad on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Bilal Ahmad Virk.The minister said the petrol crisis was resolved by taking timely measures, and now the petrol supply has been maintained more than its demand in the market.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said a single-member high-level inquiry committee constituted by the prime minister was investigating the shortage of petrol.Later, talking to newsmen, the minister ruled out any petrol crisis in the future. He said arrangements have been made in view of a likely reduction in oil prices next month and the rising demand of petrol. He said sufficient amount of petrol had been stocked to meet the demand next month.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the petrol crisis was overcome by taking effective measures. He said LNG was being introduced in Pakistan on 31st March, which will be provided to power generation plants.He said prices of one litre of petrol would be equal to about one kilogram of CNG.To a question, he said sufficient stock of diesel and furnace oil had also been ensured.
The minister said the CNG sector has been allowed to import LNG and the government will transport it and alternate fuel to consumers. He said pressure on petrol will be reduced with the availability of CNG and people will get relief. He said additional CNG would be available soon. “We will not allow any crisis to damage the world’s number one industry and efforts are underway to revive it as soon as possible,” he said.
The minister said that the government had taken provision of environment-friendly and economical fuel to the masses as a challenge, adding that the import of LNG will begin from March after which no CNG station would face closure. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the price of CNG would be deregulated, it would be linked to crude oil and its price would be 30 percent cheaper as compared to petrol.
The minister lauded the CNG sector for taking the initiative to import LNG to overcome the crisis ensuring that the government was fully cooperating in this regard. After the arrival of LNG, the annual demand of petrol in Punjab would be reduced by almost two billion litres per annum, he said. “We have offered fiscal incentives for the import of LNG so that once vibrant CNG sector can again boom,” he stressed.
Central leader of All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, Central Chairman APCNGA Captain Shuja Anwar, Senior Vice Chairman Ch. Talib, Brig. Iftikhar Ahmed, Ch. Salah Uddin, Fayaz Gillani, Abid Hayat, Ashar Haleem and others were also present at the press conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Ghiyas Paracha lauded the government’s support for the import of LNG for the CNG sector, terming it as the beginning of the end of energy crisis in Pakistan. He said that import of LNG would have a positive impact on all the people and every sector of the country.