A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) was held under theChairmanship of the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and SpecialInitiatives, Asad Umar, in Islamabad on Thursday.
The Petroleum Division presented a summary for the approval of theDevelopment Plan for the Pakistan Oil and Gas Sector. The main objective ofthe plan is to assist the Energy Working Group of the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) in finalizing its investment for the developmentof the oil and gas sector by providing a comprehensive database ofinformation on Pakistan’s energy profile, forecast, and various planned andagreed energy projects.
The CCoE directed the Petroleum Division to define specific policyinterventions within 30 days.
The CCoE also approved the summary of the Transmission System ConstraintsRemoval Plan presented by the Power Division. It was informed that the peaktransmission capacity of the national grid system in July 2018 was 20,811MW and 24, 564 MW in August 2021, and will be increased up to 33,500 MW in2023.
Chairman Umar said that the unmet demand will be served in the country andthe power plants merit order exceptions will also be reduced once theconstraints are removed.
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The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) presented the finding report on thestatus of Inquiry/Investigation on Petroleum Crises. It was informed thatpetroleum marketing companies have set up more illegal petrol pumps thanthe Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority-approved petrol pumps across thecountry.
The FIA Lahore arrested the CEO of Fossil Energy, Nadeem Butt, former Oiland Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Member Gas, Amir Naseem, Member Oil,Abdullah Malik, and the Director-General Oil of the Ministry of Energy andPetroleum, Shafiullah Afridi, and Assistant Director Oil, Imran Abro. Fourdays of physical remand of the five accused officials was obtained on 31October, and they have all been sent to judicial lock-up.
Some of the accused have obtained interim bails while the process offreezing their accounts is underway. They have also been accused ofcolluding with illegal petroleum marketing licenses, illegal petroleumimport quotas, and buying and selling illegal petroleum imports, causingbillions of rupees worth of losses to the national exchequer, and moneylaundering of billions of rupees earned from it.
