ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is likely to double by July 2017 from its current volume of 600 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), official sources said.
“Currently, Pakistan is importing 600 mmcfd RLNG, which is added to the transmission network and hopefully the matching quantity will add in the current supply by July, 2017,” the sources told the state-run news agency in Islamabad.
Currently, they said, there was a huge gap between demand and supply (domestic production) of gas, adding “therefore, reliance on imported gas is likely to increase in future unless new major gas discoveries are made.”
They informed that the government took several measures to reduce reliance on imported gas.
Elaborating the steps, the sources said, the Petroleum Policy 2012 was being implemented in letter and spirit, offering attractive terms and conditions to investors.
Under the policy, they said, as many as 46 new blocks had been awarded under Petroleum Policy 2012, while the clearance process had been initiated for award of another 32 exploration blocks to oil and gas exploration and production companies through transparent bidding process.
Answering a question, the sources said producer gas price had been increased from 31 percent to 68 percent for different zones to encourage investment in the oil and gas sector.
For new exploration efforts in old blocks, they said, Supplemental Agreements had been signed for conversion to the 2012 Petroleum Policy’s price.
The government introduced the bonanza of $ 1 per MMBTU for first three discoveries in offshore area, and allowed E&P companies to sale 10 percent of gas production to any buyer.
