Miftah holds PTI responsible for looming energy crisis

KARACHI: Miftah Ismail, former finance minister, has held the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government responsible for a looming energy crisis in the country.

According to local media, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was addressing a press conference in Karachi, where he said that delays in the dry docking of LNG terminals is one of the reasons for the emerging energy crisis. He asked why the government had opted for expensive fuels for electricity production.

Miftah questioned the government’s choice of opting for expensive fuels, such as furnace oil and diesel, for electricity production. It is worth mentioning here that a day earlier, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar acknowledged that the country could face a power shortage from June 29 to July 6, as the RLNG terminal would be non-functional during that period.

Explaining that dry docking was necessary for meeting international safety standards and obtaining a safety certificate to keep the terminals operational, Miftah Ismail alleged that Hammad Azhar had wrongfully blamed the operators.

“Engro had asked them (the government) to initiate the dry docking a year ago, but they have been delaying it,” he claimed. “And they are now blaming Engro and SSGC (Sui Southern Gas Company). This is a lie.”

The PMLN leader went on to say that since the government had been delaying the matters, it now had to carry out the maintenance of multiple gas fields all at once.

Miftah Ismail also lashed out at the government for “keeping on delaying the purchase of furnace oil” and then buying it in haste at an exorbitant price. He added that the government had opted to use furnace oil and diesel, which were expensive fuels, to produce electricity in November and December last year, and subsequently the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had to increase the electricity tariff.

“There is no reason for using furnace oil for electricity production but that this government is inefficient and dishonest,” he remarked, pointing out that opting for expensive fuels was also in violation of the Nepra’s merit order, which stipulated that cheaper fuels were to be given priority for electricity production.

He maintained that power plants set up by the PML-N government in the past years, such as the Sahiwal coal-fired power plant, were producing the cheapest electricity in the country.