Speaking to the survivors of the recent earthquake in Panakot, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised that Dir would be the first district to be supplied with the natural gas whenever it becomes available.
Speaking to the survivors of the recent earthquake in Panakot, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised that Dir would be the first district to be supplied with the natural gas whenever it becomes available.
The prime minister said Pakistan’s own natural gas reserves are fast depleting and the government is making frantic efforts to import gas from other countries, apparently referring towards government’s plans to procure liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar.
The prime minister’s remarks came a few days after his minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in an interview said that the government has finalised a 15-year $16 billion dollar LNG deal with Qatar and the first shipment is expected to arrive next month.
He said 1.5 million tones of gas would be imported from Qatar every year.
Abbasi said the two sides have finalised a deal but as usual refused to divulge the price at which the gas was being bought.
Previously, he has said that the gas would be imported at a competitive price and it would be lowest in Asia.
The import of LNG has been on the table for the past many years, though the present government has expedited efforts since it came into power to start importing it as quickly as possible.
Sharif family used its close ties with the Gulf royal families to expedite the process and Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif personally visited Doha to push for an agreement.
But the LNG import issue of late has come under a strict scrutiny of the political opposition, national press and anti-corruption watchdogs, raising fears that whether the dream of uninterrupted import of LNG would ever come true.
It seems that like Nandipur project, the government created a lot of fanfare around LNG affairs but failed to prepare a proper policy framework governing procurement, distribution and transmission of the LNG.
It is not just the pricing mechanism that has been debated vigorously but questions of transparency are also being raised over the award of the LNG terminal at Port Qasim to Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL).
The terminal was completed earlier this year which Petroleum Minister claims to have been done in a record period.
But now reports are making headlines that the award was given on the basis of favour and transparency criteria was fiercely violated while giving this contract.
According to NAB’s initial inquiry, losses worth Rs200 billion were incurred on the national exchequer by this award, though the government as well as ETPL have denied these allegations.
According to reports, the NAB is seeking formal investigation into the whole affair.
Pakistan has been facing a chronic and deep rooted energy crisis which successive governments not only failed to anticipate in a timely but also failed to take requisite measures to resolve or at least mitigate it.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership put its reputation and ability at stake by making tall claims in the 2013 election campaign by promising to address the energy crisis within a couple of years.
Now that the government is close to completing half its tenure in office, it is unfortunate that it is not close to addressing this crisis to even some extent.
The government leaders, including the prime minister are now promising that they would resolve this crisis by the end of their tenure in 2018, but one can’t be very optimistic given the track record of what has been achieved over the past two years and a half.
Since the government is running short of time as it has already passed half its tenure without much success on the energy front, observers say the prime minister should take this matter into his own hands and have a realistic view of what could be done during the rest of the tenure.
It is the outsized political promises that forced the government to haphazardly go after big projects like Nandipur without proper planning which ultimately resulted in utter disappointment and embarrassment.
On the LNG issue, the prime minister suggested a national seminar in which the relevant ministers should be available to respond to questions from the media and experts on this issue.
The seminar was recently held in Islamabad but the controversy refuses to die.
It is much better that the prime minister should order a high-level inquiry into the whole affair as fingers are being raised over the transparency of the whole project.
A lingering controversy could not only jeopardise the proposed LNG agreement but it could also augur bad for overall reputation of the government and country in making deals with the foreign companies and governments.
Litigation and controversies like the one over award of copper/gold exploration in the Reko Diq project has already adversely impacted Pakistan’s reputation as a safe haven for foreign investment, and any new controversy would further tarnish that image.
Now that the petroleum minister is saying that the LNG deal has been finalised and pricing agreed, and details of the deal could not be publically shared, it is suggested that he hold a closed door briefing for the members of the parliament’s relevant standing committees, taking them into confidence to avoid any controversy on this matter.
Controversies in such big deals are not unexpected as stakes of different interest groups are involved but it is the duty of the government to minimise such concerns and take proper measures to avoid controversies and unnecessary disputes.
Mere expression of good intent is not sufficient in such matters and there is a need on the part of government to take steps to ensure transparency and fair play in deals.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad
