ISLAMABAD - A delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) led by its President, Zafar Bakhtawari visited the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) for having a meeting with Riaz Ahmed Khan, Managing Director OGDC for discussing current energy situation in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Riaz Ahmed Khan, said that OGDC is the largest Exploration and Production (ENP) Company of Pakistan which had become the leading provider of oil and gas to the country by increasing exploration and production both domestically and internationally.
He said that OGDCL is successfully going ahead with its mission to fulfil the country's energy demand and its recent discovery of would go a long way in this regard. He said that OGDCL is meeting the expectations of its stakeholders through best management practices and the use of latest technology.
Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI showed serious concern over the prevailing energy situation in the country and said that the future of Pakistan lies on the energy sufficiency and ending energy crisis from the country that would definitely give a boost to the industry growth and business in Pakistan.
He informed the Managing Director that ICCI has already organised an energy seminar in which various representatives of ENP companies have discussed the progress made so far on various initiatives to overcome the power and gas shortage in the country. He said that ICCI also intended to organise National Energy Conference to address the issue of energy which is putting heavy dents on our economy.
Bakhtawari stressed to adopt energy conservation measures and said that Government should launch a serious campaign for adopting energy conservation measures by promoting energy efficiency programs.
He said that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water and Power should take urgent steps for making payments to cope with the fast deteriorating energy situation. He expressed grave concern over the rapidly swelling power sector circular debt that has touched an alarming level of Rs.872 billion.
ICCI President said there was a need to evolve an altogether new policy to attract private sector investment in electricity generation to overcome the gap between the demand for electricity and its supply. He said the main reason for the growing electricity shortfall was not just the increase in demand but also the declining capacity to produce electricity because of its inconsistent policies.