Petroleum SAPM explains LNG purchase, sale mechanism.

ISLAMABAD -- Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Friday explained in detail the purchase and sale mechanism of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), rejecting all negative and speculative reports appearing in sections of the media for the last one-and-a-half months.

In a series of video tweets on official account of the Petroleum Division, he said the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had introduced the LNG in Pakistan's market without constructing any storage facility and declaring it as petrol, which cost almost double than the locally produced gas.

In the given scenario, the SAPM said every LNG shipment had to be consumed within four to five days, in the absence of storage facilities, for berthing of another cargo ship.

Declaring the LNG as a petroleum product by the PML-N regime, he said it meant that every consumer using the LNG had to pay the full price of the commodity.

He said a question was being asked repeatedly as to why the LNG had not been procured in summer when its price was down, which also showed poor information of the elements spreading speculative news in the media, he added.

The SAPM said it was on record that the government had provided the LNG to each and every consumer whosoever demanded it in all months of the summer season.

He said another allegation was being leveled against the government that in summer, the fuel oil was used in power generation that was why the sufficient LNG had not been procured. 'It is also totally wrong and based on speculations and misinformation.'

Nadeem Babar said the previous government in its last summer season had produced 28 percent of the total electricity through the fuel oil, while the present government in the summer-2019 produced just 5 percent and 3.6 percent of the total electricity in eleven...