Petroleum Division Rejects Media Report About Cost Of North-South Gas Pipeline Project

Petroleum Division rejects media report about cost of North-South Gas pipeline project

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Sep, 2020 ) :The Petroleum Division on Friday rejected a media report aired by a private channel regarding North-South gas pipeline, which conveyed an erroneous impression about Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and claim that the project would be completed at a cost of $1 billion against the estimated expenditure of $2 billion.

"The report further claimed that a senior official of the Petroleum Division has supported this working paper presented by the SNGPL at the Board meeting of the said Company, which is strongly rebutted by this Division," a news release said.

The Petroleum Division also clarified the SNGPL management had presented only "a half prepared" report whereby the board was informed that the company could only lay a 200 kilometre pipeline of 42-inch dia within the area of Punjab Province.

"It must be known that this estimate excluded the area of the pipeline to be laid in the province of Sindh.

And it doesn't cater for a pipeline of a dia of more than 42 inches measurements and this estimate doesn't cover any specific scope and TORs (Terms of Reference) of the project which are still being worked out by the Petroleum Division." The impression being created in the report about the Ministry that it is trying to give the project to a foreign company at a high cost "is misleading and against the facts."The Petroleum Division said in a categorical term that "no format of execution of the project has yet been finalized as the TORs and scope of the project is being worked out. In the absence of such information, the cost of the project cannot be realistically estimated."The Petroleum Division is considering the most optimum and cost-effective option of completion of this project of national importance in light of the recently announced judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.