Islamabad: Sindh strongly opposed the sale of 35 percent local gas to private parties in the ECNEC meeting.
The approval of this framework will burden domestic consumers with Rs 243 billion in the next five years, as expensive imported gas will be used to meet the shortage.
It should be noted that the Petroleum Division had sought approval for the framework from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), where the Sindh government has strongly opposed the summary. The ECNEC meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.
It should be remembered that the Council of Common Interests (CCI) had allowed gas exploration and production companies in January this year to sell 35 percent of their production to third parties, but for this, the condition was imposed of meeting the overall demand first and getting the decision approved by ECNEC.
According to government sources, Sindh strongly opposed the approval of the summary and also gave arguments against bringing the summary to the meeting without distributing it. Due to the lockdown, the KPK representative could not attend the meeting, while the internet speed was also low.
The Sindh representative said that he could not take the summary for approval, as the Sindh government had already asked the CCI to review the January 2024 decision taken during the caretaker government.
It should be noted that ECNIC presented the summary in the meeting without taking the opinions of the provinces, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Law, OGRA and the FBR. Sources say that the Sindh representative took the position that there was no consensus on the summary, on which the chairman tried to convince the Sindh representative by saying that we are only endorsing the framework.
However, the Sindh representative remained firm on his stand and asked for more time to consult the provincial government.
The press release issued by ECNIC after the meeting did not mention any discussion or decision in this regard. It should be noted that the Prime Minister has set up a committee headed by Ishaq Dar to resolve the differences of opinion on the CCI decision.
The committee also includes representatives of two companies that benefited from the CCI decision, which is tantamount to giving benefits to private companies and discriminating against domestic consumers.
Sui Northern Gas Company Limited says that if the decision is implemented, domestic consumers will have a burden of Rs 243 billion during 2023-2025.
The company says that the decision will impose an additional burden of Rs 45 billion annually on domestic consumers from 2025-26 to 2029-30, while the total impact will exceed Rs 243 billion by 2030.
