LNG more expensive than diesel due to govt’s corruption: Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday claimed that Pakistan had become the first country in the world where diesel was cheaper than the LNG due to the government’s corruption and incompetence. Talking to media persons after attending the hearing of the LNG reference at the Accountability Court, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi mentioned that the mismanagement and corrupt practices at the government level forced the government to pay a huge excessive amount for the required quantity of LNG, which was not imported in time and tendered at a higher rate. He said LNG was available at one-third of the oil price around the world but the authorities had paid an additional amount of Rs11 billion for the two shipments as they had delayed to open the tenders. Abbasi further added that in the month of January, Pakistan would have to pay an additional amount of Rs25 billion for the LNG import, while the country had already suffered a loss of Rs122 billion in the current year.

He said power would be generated through furnace oil and diesel, making it expensive for the consumers or end users, saying the only beneficiary was the oil lobby. He challenged the government to answer two questions: 1) What is the annual payment made to the LNG terminal located at Port Qasim, Karachi, no matter the imports are made or not? 2) How much the financial advantage, the government gets, if a diesel-run power plant owned by a federal minister is fuelled by the LNG, as there are a total of 15 such units in the country. The former PM wondered if they (the government) had been waiting for the last two and a half years to understand what the charge was against them.

Khaqan Abbasi told journalists that they had requested the court again to ensure that the complainant, Rasheed Ahmed, should appear in person as he had not attend the court for the last two and a half years. Rasheed, on whose complaint an inquiry was conducted, must explain the source and nature of his information, which led to the current reference about the LNG terminal set up by the Sui Southern, Abbasi remarked.

While hoping that the report is incorrect, Abbasi revealed that reliable sources had informed him that the sitting DG Oil of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) was a veterinary doctor. The government side would soon hold another press conference without sharing the truth with the people, the PML-N leader said.