‘CNG price to decrease with private LNG import’

Islamabad: All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) Central Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha has expressed confidence that there would be a considerable decrease in price of the commodity after arrival of private sector players in import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

“The association expects the arrival of private LNG cargoes in next few weeks as the government wants to shrink its footprint in the energy sector, which will help create an atmosphere of competition, stabilise the commodity supply to all sectors at competitive rates,” he said while talking to APP.

He said the association was seeing Rs10 to 12 reduction in per KG price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) with the arrival of private sector players in the Energy arena, adding it was in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who wanted to bring down rates of different commodities.

With the private sector LNG import, the chairman said the gap between demand and supply of gas would come to an end and the CNG stations start working round the clock.

“The association has been advocating for the involvement of private sector in import of LNG for the last two years, and now it is going to happen soon. It will be a guaranteed win-win situation for all the stakeholders.”

Answering a question, he said a formula already existed under which private sector could import LNG as per its requirements, get it injected into existing gas transmission network and receive at industrial units.

He was of the view that there should be difference between the rates of CNG and petrol, adding CNG was almost 20 percent inexpensive than other fuels. Currently, the chairman said, around 1,150 CNG stations were operating in Punjab, 586 in Sindh and 613 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.