The Federal Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub Khan, met the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Excellency Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, this morning.
They discussed the ongoing cooperation in the petroleum sector and the priority areas of mutual interest in Pakistan’s energy sector.
Minister Khan lauded the UAE’s space mission to Mars called ‘Amal/Hope’ and its successful entry into the planet’s orbit.
The ambassador thanked the minister and expressed his interest in further investments in the energy sector. He said that collaboration in the energy sector would provide an impetus to economic ties between the brotherly countries.
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Minister Khan also met the Ambassador of the Republic of Czechia, His Excellency Tomas Smetanka, separately, and had a comprehensive discussion on the outlook of Pakistan’s energy sector and energy market with him. The Czech ambassador detailed the areas of mutual discussion in the energy sector, including investments in the oil sector and business in the LNG supply chain for a group of Czech companies that will visit Pakistan by end of March 2021.
The Minister for Energy also highlighted the Pakistani government’s robust policies aimed at improving the petroleum and power sectors. He said that the government is fully committed to diversifying the outlook of the energy market while making it more competitive and efficient.
He briefed the Czech ambassador about the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2030 that emphasizes increasing the share of indigenous sources on the basis of amount, time, and location while reducing reliance on imported fuel.
He explained that the IGCEP would forge additional renewable capacity amounting to 60 percent of power generation from biomass, solar, and wind energies, 30 percent from hydel energy, and 10 percent each from thermal and nuclear power plants.
Minister Khan also spoke about the Exploration and Production activities in Pakistan, and said that the government had recently carried out biddings for 15 oil and gas blocks, and remarked that the minimum investment in these blocks would be over $71 million in three years.
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Additionally, the development programs worth a hundred million dollars would be extended by the E&P companies in the located areas.
Minister revealed that the government will offer new oil and gas blocks by end of this year as part of its strategy to revive the local E&P activities that had been ignored by the previous governments.
He added that the government is focusing on self-sufficiency in oil and gas, and in harnessing the maximum potential of Pakistan’s energy resources by introducing ease-of-doing-business and transparency to ensure a level-playing field for all the competitors in the energy sector.
The Czech ambassador expressed his hope that the Czech companies would obtain valuable input from their Pakistani counterparts and would find the best opportunities for investments and business in Pakistan’s energy sector to strengthen the bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
