Govt lifts ban on import of furnace oil

ISLAMABAD: In an effort to meet the demand of power plants during summer season, the Cabinet Committee on Energy lifted ban on import of furnace oil.

The cabinet body allowed only one-time import of furnace oil for stock up oil reserves of power plants, however the committee decided to put the matter for the approval of the federal cabinet.

Briefing the cabinet body, An official of the Petroleum Division said that 350,000 tons of furnace oil was needed to meet energy requirement of the country in May and June 2019.

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He told the meeting that Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) were importing over 1 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day (bcfd), of which zero-rated export-focused industries were being supplied 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).

The committee directed the power division to ensure uninterrupted power supply during Sehr and Iftar in Ramazan. During the meeting, the Power Division presented its internal audit report.

The officials of Power Division apprised the committee that they launched a bill recovery campaign against defaulters and added that the division collected Rs318,264mn during the four month (November to February) and sent  4,225 defaults to prison.

A draft of Renewable Energy Policy 2019 would be forwarded to the federal cabinet for approval in May 2019, the committee was told.