It was stated by Mr.Zafar Bakhtawari, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) while chairing a meeting of energy and petroleum sector entrepreneurs. He said that resolving the oil and gas company’s issues would bring new investments in the oil and gas sector of our country.
 

ICCI President called upon the Government to give high priority to investments in the oil and gas sector to explore and exploit these natural resources for the benefit of the country. Therefore, he appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take urgent notice for settling litigation issues of gas exploration companies.
 

He was responding to the reports that litigation concerning various oil and gas fields has caused a loss of more than $2 billion to the country`s largest oil and gas exploration company in one year and delayed energy projects. He said that more than 1,200MW of electricity could be generated if gas available in the fields were tapped.
 

Mr.Bakhtawari said that the country needed a mechanism to counter lengthy litigations that were affecting the energy projects. He said that the government should approach the superior court for early settlement of litigation issues so that discovered gas could be brought into the mainstream on a fast track basis.
 

He said that payments for oil import bill is the key factors that has put pressure on fragile economy, adds to the electricity generation cost, hitting hard the ordinary consumers as well as raising the cost of production for manufacturers. He said that Government should give immediate attention to run the existing power units by converting them form expensive fuels to cheaper options like coal-fired deriving coal from Thar coal fields and other renewable energy sources for cutting the oil import bill.
 

ICCI President expressed concern over soaring oil import bill which is touching the alarming figure of $16billion and comprises almost 40 percent of Pakistan’s total import bill that resulting in a huge trade deficit thus puts pressure on the local currency. Therefore, he stressed upon exploration of domestic oil reverses that is essential to bring some stability in the falling value of rupee by controlling oil import bill which is possible by early settlement of litigation issues of gas exploration companies.