Industrialists refuse to pay levy on new gas tariff

Islamabad: In a new development, the export and non-export industries having Captive Power Plants (CPPs) have demanded the government to send them gas disconnection notices as they can no longer bear the burden of levy on the new gas tariff fixed by the government.

The government has announced the implementation of a new gas tariff of Rs3,500 per MMBtu for CPPs following the instructions of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), which has been strongly objected to by the industry.

Industrialists from North and South Pakistan have asked the government to liberalize the LNG sector and allow the industry to import LNG for their captive power plants. They also said that they want to get gas supply under the amended E&P Policy 2012, which allows the private sector to buy 35 percent of gas from production and exploration companies.

This was stated in a meeting with Petroleum Minister Dr Mosaddiq Malik and top government officials on Tuesday.