Year: 2021

Retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa was on Tuesday replaced by Khalid Mansoor as the authority to lead the affairs of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. A notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said Mansoor had been appointed as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs with immediate effect. The appointment will be in an honorary capacity, it added. Bajwa announced his departure in a tweet, saying Mansoor was “fully equipped” to lead the authority in the future. “I bow my head before Allah Almighty for giving me…

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The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Tuesday withdrew its notification from a day earlier that showed the purchase price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo at $20.055 by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), saying the petroleum corporation clarified it had scrapped the bid as it was ‘high’ and ‘unacceptable’. The withdrawal of the Ogra notification comes in the wake of Dawn report published Tuesday morning that said the state-run PSO had purchased a cargo of LNG at $20.055 per unit (almost 27.9pc of Brent) — the highest ever not only in…

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The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd has taken strict notice of alleged involvement of some of its officers in disconnecting gas supply to textile mills and issuing frivolous notices to them on lame excuses and pretexts. “I assure you people of uninterrupted gas supply to export oriented industry. I will also take action against all delinquent officials resorting to disconnection of gas connections or issuing frivolous notices to the mills without any solid reasons,” SNGPL Managing Director Syed Ali Javaid Hamdani assured a delegation of the All Pakistan Textile Mills…

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The government has decided in principle to provide uninterrupted gas supply to two Punjab-based fertiliser plants – Fatima and Agritech – on Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) network over the coming months to ensure sufficient local fertiliser production. The decision to this effect was reached at a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin to review the supply and stocks of urea fertilisers. According to an official statement, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, SAPM on Finance and Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, SAPM on Food Security Jamshed Cheema and…

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While the ministries of energy and maritime affairs wrangle over some operational issues, Pakistan’s petrol stocks have slid to a critical position, posing a challenge to smooth supplies, it emerged on Tuesday. As of August 2 evening, informed sources said, the overall petrol stocks were lower than eight days of the country’s average consumption coverage. This comes as a grim reminder of the June 2020 situation when the supplies had run dry, followed by a series of inquiries and formation of commissions to investigate reasons. The then special assistant to…

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