Planning Commission distances itself from LNG project

Planning Commission distances itself from LNG project

Saturday, June 9, 2012: Planning Commission of Pakistan has distanced itself from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has asked the government to hire an independent consultant to assess the feasibility of the $30 billion project
before moving ahead.

“There are many flaws in the integrated LNG import programme (including a terminal and gas supplies), but the sub-committee, formed for the purpose in mid-May, has held only one meeting so far,” a senior official of the Ministry
of Petroleum and Natural Resources said.

“Now the Planning Commission has come up with a demand that an independent study should be conducted by a consultant to determine the viability of the project,” the official said.

Earlier, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Water Resources Kamal Majidullah, who is a member of the sub-committee, opposed the integrated LNG import project and asked the government to push private parties that are already
working on LNG import.

So far, four private parties have got construction licences from Ogra for an LNG terminal.

The finance ministry, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had also rejected the integrated LNG import project, the official said.

The sub-committee was constituted by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in its meeting on May 15 and Information Technology Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was made the chairman to look into modalities of the LNG import project.
The sub-committee immediately held a meeting on May 16 during which the finance ministry refused to extend sovereign guarantees for LNG import.

The special adviser to the prime minister on water resources was of the view that the integrated project would hinder the progress of other LNG import projects as happened in the Mashal LNG import project.

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Posted by Wajahat Javed on Jun 10 2012. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry