Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Monday said the government was committed to resolving the issue of energy shortage and has successfully reduced the gap between demand and supply both in electricity and natural gas. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the second Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at the Port Qasim, built by the private sector, the Prime Minister said work was going on several power projects to overcome the challenge in the shortest possible time.

Pakistan is importing 600 million cubic feet of LNG per day (mmcfd) through its first LNG terminal at Port Qasim. The new terminal would handle another 600 mmcfd, taking the total imported volume to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day.

The Prime Minister said when the PML-N government came into power in 2013 it was confronted with serious issues of power shortages, lawlessness and an economy in shambles. However owing to the vision of its leadership and dedicated team the country's economy has turned around and today it has a 5.3 percent rate. He hoped to sustain it and take it up to 6 percent next year. He said the government also confronted the challenge of terrorism head on while the challenge of power shortages has been addressed through the import of LNG. He said in 2013, the government was informed that it would take a minimum of seven years before any of its ambitious projects could take shape. However, he said, his government has completed all the projects on which it initiated the work.

He said the government was working on ways to produce electricity through different options, adding that three more power stations that run on LNG would soon be operational and more electricity to be added the national grid. The Prime Minister said work on 1360MW coal power project was also nearing completion.

The Prime Minister congratulated Pakistan GasPort Limited (PGPL) Chairman Iqbal Z Ahmed on achieving this milestone and said he still has two more to cross. He termed the LNG terminal a success story. He said all new terminals are in private sector and added that the role of government is a facilitator between consumers and the suppliers. He said the government's function is not to do business but to provide a regulatory framework.

He said the LNG is the cheapest fuel available in the country and would adequately meet the requirements of the commercial, industrial, domestic and the CNG sectors. He said there is a huge potential for investment in the LNG sector as the country has a huge market for natural gas.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2017