Petroleum Division Rejects News About Turning Down Sindh's Gas Demand

The Petroleum Division (PD) Friday rejected a news item appearing in a section of the press that the federal government had turned down Sindh Chief Minister's demand for fulfilling gas needs of the province on priority

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jan, 2020 ) :The Petroleum Division (PD) Friday rejected a news item appearing in a section of the press that the Federal government had turned down Sindh Chief Minister's demand for fulfilling gas needs of the province on priority.

"It is clarified that Petroleum Division has not rejected Sindh government's demand that gas needs of the province should be fulfilled first, nor any such recommendation is under consideration. The Petroleum Division strongly refutes such assertions," a press release said.

During a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), held on December 23, 2019, both Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar and Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah had agreed "to categorize LNG as gas and the subsequent jurisdiction of OGRA to determine its price." It was also agreed that the SAPM would visit Karachi, subject to the CM's availability, to discuss the subject of Weighted Average Cost of Gas (WACOG), gas distribution and pricing through constructive discussions.

"Any gas discovered in Sindh has been allocated to Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) during the present government's tenure," it said, adding the SAPM's interpretation of Article-158 of the Constitution had also been 'misconstrued' in the news item.

"The interpretation of Article 158, as viewed, by the Petroleum Division was presented in the CCI meeting, i.

e. Citizens of Pakistan (not any particular province) have the first right of use given that citizens are ultimate owners of this resource. Any use beyond domestic consumers' needs to be decided amicably between Federation and Provinces under Article-158." It said the media also misreported the SAPM's remarks about wheat, adding Nadeem Babar had stated that government was maintaining uniform procurement and release policies on all items like petrol, electricity, water and wheat.

According to the press release, Sindh produces approximately 2,243 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) gas, out of which 1200-1300 MMCFD is put in SSGC system while around 700 MMCFD is provided directly to power and fertilizer sectors in the Sindh province. "After netting out the gas supplied by SSGC in Balochistan, there remains 400-500 MMCFD gas that goes out of Sindh. It must yet again be reiterated that even if Sindh's interpretation of Article 158 is applied, Sindh will be short of gas in two years."It said the federal government wanted to uphold the positive spirit of the CCI meeting wherein it was mutually agreed to reach decisions on distribution of gas to Sindh in a collaborative manner. "It is, therefore, in the interest of Sindh and not just the Federation, to arrive at a mutually agreed structure for supplies, distribution & pricing of natural gas in any form to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the country."