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ISLAMABAD - In a bid to control swelling gas crisis of the country, CompressedNatural Gas (CNG) sector has now expressed its willingness to bring Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to meet the growing demands and also gave conditional consent to increase the price of commodity by 17 per cent of petrol s.These revelations were made during a seminar organised by All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA), which was held here on Monday in a hotel to discuss in detailsthe ways and measures to control ongoing gas crisis of the country. Representatives of CNG industry, officials of petroleum and natural resources ministry werein attendance along with people of different walks of life.The CNG association while expressing her readiness to bring imported LNG to country has also shown its conditional support to link the price of CNG with petrolprice to meet the increasing demands of natural gas.Minister for petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while speaking on the occasion said that CNG is useful for the country and luckily half of the country s vehicles are running on CNG fuel. However, solution to problems of theCNG sector pertain to provision of uninterrupted gas is only the imported gas. Similarly, LNG import can resolve gas crisis of the country as national exchequer is facing $2million annual loss due to absence of import of LNG.Highlighting the shortage of natural gas to meet the burgeoning demands of natural gas of various categories of natural gas consumers, petroleum minister said, We can lit our stoves only with locally produced gas as country is faced with acute gas shortage. He also said that country s gas crisis has become so intensified that today local production can only satisfy the demands of domestic consumers and after lighting domestic stove no gas is left to meet the demands of rest of an

y single consumers. Due to courts and media, today no body seems ready to take a decision pertain to import of LNG to the country, he said, adding, Undue delay in the import of LNG has caused unbearable damages to the country s economy, which has now reached at the verge of devastation.During the course of speech, Shahid tried his level best to satisfy the CNG sector that the incumbent regime is not against the CNG sector by saying that the PML-N government would give more incentives to the CNG industry and is set to increase the volume of business with the CNG sector.Expressing his opinion with regard to natural gas import projects, the ministerfor petroleum and natural gas Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project would not affect the CNG sector and Iranian gas is cheaper in comparison with the price of imported LNG. He, however, deplored over a report of an organisation that has declared the IP gasline project a reason to devastate countr

y s economy and said, Sincerity of such people with our beloved homeland is in doubts. He also said that price of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas project would be $1 cheaper than to IP gas price.Speaking on the occasion Chairman APCNGA Ghiyab Abdullah Paracha announced thatCNG sector is ready to import LNG to the country to meet soaring gas demands ofCNG sector. He said the entire CNG sector would find uninterrupted natural gas with 400mmcfd-imported LNG and there would be no gas holiday or suspension on any single day of a week. He, however, demanded of the government to bring imported LNG to the country for CNG sector use by giving an exemption from general sales tax (GST) to the imported LNG and a CNG policy as well to run the entire sector smoothly.Dispelling the impression that CNG sector is allegedly involve in gas theft, Ghiyas Paracaha said that the government should appoint police on CNG filling stati

ons while gas theft is going on only because of alleged connivance of the officials of gas utilities. He also said that the CNG is an alternate fuel for approximately 3.5 vehicles usually run on petrol or diesel. So far, above 4.5 billioninvestment has been made in country s CNG sector by the investors, he added.Ghiyas has bitterly criticised the measures and ways taken by the outgoing PPP-led coalition government to run the CNG industry and also said, Today country is facing acute financial and social crisis only due to the wrong policies of previous regime. Besides, Parcaha has also expressed concerns over Rs4/kg increase in gas price due to hike in the power tariff, which, the oil and gas regulatory authority (Ogra) had, however, not allowed them to collect it from the CNG consumers

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