Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Saturday that addressing public concerns over the availability and unfair pricing of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was a government priority.
Earlier this week, the government unveiled a new LPG policyaimed at creating competition and supplies through procurement by four state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under government-to-government (G2G) and business-to-business (B2B) arrangements.
The government directed four state-owned enterprises to re-enter the LPG import business to ease severe supply constraints and soaring prices.
Under the policy, the locally produced gas will be sold through open auctions, which should cut out the intermediaries who profit from the existing arrangement.
According to state-run Radio Pakistanthe minister attended the first meeting of the committee formed to ensure transparent auction of LPG.
He said the new auction system would help ensure fair distribution of LPG, stability in the supply chain and energy security.
Under the new mechanism, local LPG producers would allocate 10 per cent of their production to government-owned marketing companies to meet the needs of remote areas. The remaining 90pc of locally produced LPG would be sold through a transparent auction in the presence of the media.
The committee also decided that each company would be allowed to acquire a maximum of 20 metric tonnes of LPG per day through the auction.
Daily LPG production would also be monitored, with the data presented to the prime minister.
Malik said all eligible companies would be given equal opportunities to participate in the auction, Radio Pakistan reported.
LPG, long considered the poor man’s fuel, is now what many middle-class families use for cooking and heating. An increasing number of homes end up buying cylinders as temperatures fall.
Earlier this week, Malik assured the public that the government will make utmost efforts to meet the demand for LPG during the winter months.
His remarks come as LPG supply has been disrupted due to the closure of Iranian border crossings, resulting in gas cylinders being sold at twice the official rate in the open market. LPG is widely used for rickshaws, but also for cooking and other purposes by those not on the piped gas network.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Malik said, “Seeing people’s distress and also knowing that from December and January, winter will be at its peak […] even if the most expensive fuel has to be purchased for the piped network, we will bring it in and try to meet demand through LNG (liquefied natural gas).”
The minister assured the public that the government will make “utmost efforts” to ensure piped supply of domestic gas for meal times. Besides this, LPG will be needed for other needs and by those without piped connections, he noted.
Source: www.dawn.com
