In a recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Qatar, he said, the government of Qatar offered Pakistan to avail additional supply of the LNG. Responding to a question regarding price review of 15 years long-term LNG contract with Qatar, he said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would do everything in the best interests of the country, adding the government also wished not to offend other countries.
On Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) had directed the Petroleum Division to import more LNG and build furnace oil (FO) stock for forthcoming months for power generation. The reason sources cited was that the process of LNG import is required to be initiated now to have adequate gas for contributing towards generating 25,000MW power for summer.
He further said the government had planned to resolve the future needs of energy through the pipelines projects and import of LNG. Work is in progress on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-India-Pakistan (TAPI) Pipeline Project, Iran Pakistan Pipeline Project and recent agreement with Russian state energy company 'Gazprom'. In addition, the government is importing the LNG to bridge the gap between supply and demand, he added. He further said the government is also planning to allow private sector to import LNG.
Talking about the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince, he said the previous governments were keen to build personal relations with Saudi Arabia and China whereas according to the vision of Naya Pakistan, the Prime Minister is focusing on developing relations based on mutual respect and national interests. There will be technology transfer, skill enhancement and human capital development, as well as direct and indirect employments would be created. The visiting side has also shown interest in Pakistan's mines, minerals, fertilizers, phosphate and LNG storage capacity.
He said "today's Pakistan is a confident Pakistan. It is a country on the move and is looked upon favourably in the comity of nations. It has rebuilt and strengthened relations with its traditional friends and allies. Pakistan is a country that stands for peace and would undertake efforts to foster peace between friends and neighbours. It stands ready to be a hub of commerce, trade and foreign investment. A major step in this direction is the overhauling of visa regime wherein nationals of more than a dozen countries would be given visa on arrival."
He also quoted that the Air France is planning to resume its service after 11 years just like British Airways. He claimed that Pakistan is being led by an honest and visionary leadership.