The agreement was signed in the US city of Houston between UGDC, the first company to get private gas marketing license in Pakistan, and ExxonMobil. CEO UGDC Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha and Vice President of ExxonMobil Richard Rayfield signed the agreement. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, Chairman LNG Market Development Alex Volkov, President Market Development ExxonMobil Irtiza Syed, Country Manager Pakistan ExxonMobil Shahrukh Mirza, senior officials of Ministry of Petroleum and UGDC were also present on the occasion.
Speaking at the event, Nadeem Babar said that this is a historic day as ExxonMobil has decided to invest in Pakistan after a gap of twenty years. He said that businessmen would be provided enabling environment according to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. "The deal is an honor for Pakistan and we will ensure ease of doing business to promote investment in all the sectors including the energy sector," he said. The advisor said that the government wants to come out of the gas import and this deal is the first step to engage the private sector in this direction. Investment by ExxonMobil will also propel other energy companies to invest in Pakistan which will bring down the price of gas to help masses and the environment.
Alex Volkov and Irtiza Syed said, "We have decided to invest in Pakistan after two decades with a vision to provide economical and environmentally friendly gas to consumers on regular basis. We will support UGDC so that it can overcome the shortage of gas in Pakistan." Ghiyas Paracha said that the government has changed third party rules to allow the private sector to import gas. "Now we will be able to buy surplus gas from terminals and also buy the fuel from five upcoming terminals which will revive the CNG sector," he said. He said that the move will increase parity between the price of CNG and petrol, fares would be reduced, one billion dollars of foreign exchange per annum would be saved, two million vehicles would be converted to CNG and foreign investment would be attracted for import of CNG kits and cylinders.