PEW unearths rental gas plants scam
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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Friday said Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has started implementing plan of installing rental gas extraction plants on various gas fields.
Following the suit of those who plundered national resources in the rental power in the grab of resolving energy crisis a group has been busy in introducing rental gas plants across the country on the lame excuses, it said.
A project near Hyderabad Sindh known as Kunnar Pasakhi Deep (KPD) has already been awarded to LPG king Iqbal Z Ahmed who is charging 380 dollars per tonne to process raw natural gas, said Abdullah Tariq, SVP PEW.
This two-year deal on thrice the market rate will inflict a loss of Rs 7 billion on the public exchequer while some officials and politicians will be the beneficries, he added.
Emboldened by the success in KPD project, an aide of a powerful minister who is ruling Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has initiated a plan to install rental gas projects on three other gas fields.
Abdullah Tariq said that OGDCL has capacity to install its own plants on gas fields, company’s plants are working well at five major gas fields in Pakistan while the OGDCL as well as some private players have spare plants installed at depleted gas fields which can also be used.
However, those interested in rental plants have overlooked these facts and ensured that OGDCL could not install its own plants to justify rental plants. They also ignored the critical element that OGDCL’s owned plants cost less than what government will pay as rent.
The supporters of rental gas plants are following the perpetrators of rental power plants by paying advance to Iqbal Z Ahmed and they have planned to pay huge money as advance to others too. They have discounted the impact of their decision on the country, sources in energy ministry and OGDCL told PEW.
Abdullah Tariq said that whole nation is being terrorised by showing a very negative picture of gas shortfall in the winter to justify all the wrongdoings and unholy designs.
If some of the power plants are converted on cheap furnace oil available at 400 dollar per tonne — less than half of the petrol price — there will be no gas crisis in winter.
Such a step will end CNG load shedding and there will be no need to import fertiliser which will not only save foreign exchange but also boost agriculture but it will also nullify justification for the rental gas plants which is not acceptable to some influential, he said.
Abdullah Tariq asked the Chief Justice Pakistan to take note of threats delivered to honest officials, advance payments plans and plunder of resources for personal gains.
