Issue of de-linking petroleum, gas authority from provincial oversight is with CCI

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Wednesday informed the Senate that the issue of de-linking petroleum and gas authority from provincial oversight was with the CCI but changes were required to make it more practical for the provinces to exercise their rights after 18th Constitutional Amendment.
Responding to an adjournment motion regarding recent move of the federal government to de-link petroleum and gas authority from provincial oversight, the prime minister said in the post -18th Amendment, every province should have its own company to deal with the issue of that province.
He said there were unique issues and each province had its own unique issues. As the SSGCL (Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd) and SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd) were public limited companies so the particular issue did not require the consent of Council of Common Interests (CCI). The companies could be unbundled or bifurcated into parts but “we thought it important to involve the provinces and get their consent.”
There was need for a transmission company to manage transmission of gas from one province to the other, especially in case of imported one. It is a standard methodology all over the world, so this is what we are working on, he added.
The prime minister told the House that another issue was the Director General on Petroleum Concessions in the Ministry of Petroleum, who was inducted after the 18th Amendment for provincial representation.
He said a model PCA (Petroleum Concession Agreement) was in practice. The choices there were that each (province) should have its own DG PC, which, however, was not practical if an independent regulator for petroleum concessions with representation from the provinces was there. These re the issues on which we are working on, he added.
The prime minister said there were many other larger issues, which had been brought to the notice of CCI. Several meetings of the Ministry of IPC (Inter Provincial Coordination) had been held and the issues was being discussed in the CCI and would continue to be discussed. This is the situation on ground and there is no other intent, he added.

Source: APP