WEB DESK
Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik on Tuesday highlighted the financial burden that not increasing the price of gas is putting on the national treasury.
Speaking in the Senate session during question hour, Malik stated that the gas royalty and surcharge were currently being given based on a pre-determined formula.
He also shared that the country currently produces 3200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas but only 1600 mmcfd of that adds to the system.
This statement by the minister underscored the financial challenges facing the country and the need for a review of the pricing of gas.
He said that currently, the government has imposed a ban on expansion in the domestic network due to the shortage of gas.
Further, he said that this ban was imposed by the previous government and added it even changed the OGRA rules. He said that as per the rules, gas was provided to those provinces where it is being produced.
It is in the “deep interest of the country” to continue the ban on gas connections till the end of its shortage, he added.
He added that the same shall be reviewed upon improvement in gas supplies and removal of pricing distortion.
The minister said that new policies regarding gas production would be brought in the next two weeks, adding, the results of these policies could be seen in the next four years.
Replying to a question, he said that the total indigenous production of natural gas and volume with a percentage share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last three years was 11.09 MMCF in 2019-20, 12.27 mmcfd in 2020-21 and 12.00 mmcfd in 2021-22.
