Since March 2015, 83 LNG cargoes have been handled at the present LNG terminal. The 2nd LNG terminal has been awarded to Pakistan Gas Port Company Limited (PGPCL). The document further states that during July-February 2017, out of 3654 MMCFD RLNG, power sector consumed 1096 MMCFD, domestic 801 MMCFD and general industry 800 MMCFD.
During July-March financial year 2017 the LNG imports were 129,092,714 MMBTU compared to 62,373,272 MMBTU during the same period last year. The average natural gas consumption was about 3,654 MMCFD including volume of RLNG during July-February 2017. "Pakistan will be importing 3.0 billion cubic feet (bcf) of LNG per day by 2018" the Survey states.
For sustainable growth of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), the government has approved provision of RLNG to this sector with fiscal incentives of GIDC at the rate of zero and sales tax at the rate of five percent. During July-February 2017, 193 MMCFD RLNG was supplied to CNG sector.
Gas utility companies plan to invest Rs 12,702 million on transmission projects, Rs 43,045 million on distribution projects and Rs 8,462 million on other projects bringing the total investment to Rs 64,209 million during the fiscal year 2017-18. During July-February 2017, the two gas utility companies (SNGPL & SSGCL) invested Rs 17,925 million on Transmission Projects, Rs 11,183 Million on Distribution Projects and Rs 14,925 million on other projects bringing total investment to about Rs 44,033 million.
The Survey further reveals that an additional 1.7 million ton of crude oil was imported during first nine month (July-March) 2016-17 compared with same period 2015-16. An estimated 5.9 million ton of crude oil worth $1.84 billion was imported in the first nine month (July-March) of current fiscal year compared to 4.2 million tons ($183 billion) during the same period 2015-16.
The domestic production of crude oil was 24.2 million barrels during July-March fiscal year 2017 compared to 24.0 million barrels during the corresponding period last year. Import of crude oil and petroleum products constitute 20.1 percent of total import bill of Pakistan and include LNG, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The bill under this head surged by 27.5 percent ($7.7 billion) in July-March 2016-17 as compared to $6 billion in the corresponding period last year.
The Survey states that the increase was driven primarily by higher volumetric imports of furnace oil and high speed diesel (HSD), due to higher demand from power sector. During July-March financial year 2016,-17 share of oil consumption in power sector was 33 percent compared to 34 percent during the same period last year. Rising imports of power generators also contributed to the increase in demand for HSD. The lack of refining capacity leaves Pakistan heavily dependent on petroleum product imports.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017