Finance Ministry Rubbishes False Claims About LNG Shortfalls During Winters

In an interesting development, a certain news item published in the national daily, The News, titled, “Govt couldn’t purchase gas Cargoes in time, admits Tarin,” has been dubbed by the Finance Ministry as misleading and out of context. When the anchor, Nadeem Malik, asked about the gas shortfall situation in the country, the Finance Minister stated the reasons, including the ongoing global LNG shortages, which have created the fiasco, and it was not in control of anybody. The Finance Division maintains that the government has been buying the gas as required, despite higher international prices. However, he has mentioned there was one tender scrapped in July, but this has nothing to do with winter gas. The Finance Adviser has not mentioned, at any point, that winter gas shortfalls are due to non-procurement of LNG on time. It is also clarified that very little LNG is diverted to domestic gas consumers because of the high price differential and the gas shortages in winter, which we face every year due to the depletion of our local gas fields.