ISLAMABAD  -  The Council of Common Interests (CCI) has approved the Petroleum Division’s recommendation, allowing exploration and production companies with exist­ing or expired licenses to search for new oil and gas reserves.

The CCI met with Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar in the chair here on Monday.

During the session, proposals for amendments to the Petroleum Policy 2012 were presented by the Petroleum Division to facilitate exploration and production activities.

It was informed that the country cur­rently relies on 85% crude oil and 25% gas imports, impacting the national treasury due to the exchange of valua­ble reserves.

Additionally, there is a noticeable de­cline in the existing reserves of oil and gas. In light of the search for new re­serves, the Petroleum Division pro­posed essential amendments to the Pe­troleum Policy 2012.

Furthermore, the CCI approved en­hanced wellhead prices for compa­nies exploring oil and gas in Petrole­um Zone (F)1, covering the challenging border regions of Khyber Pakhtunkh­wa and western Balochistan. 

The difficulty of the terrain and lack of facilities in these areas make oil and gas exploration a costly and challeng­ing operation.

In response to the Petroleum Divi­sion’s proposal, the CCI approved the extension of the economic life of the re­serve until its complete exploitation. 

Additionally, the council endorsed the Tight Gas (Tight Gas) Exploration and Production Policy 2024.

The Tight Gas Exploration and Pro­duction Policy 2024 provides details on pricing, extraction techniques, and the regulatory framework for the effi­cient utilisation of tight gas resources, known for high hydraulic pressure, ex­pensive equipment, and technology re­quirements.

Approximately more than 35 trillion cubic feet of tight gas reserves are esti­mated in the country, making this a sig­nificant move in the energy sector.

In line with the Petroleum Division’s recommendation, the CCI increased the commercial sales rate of third-par­ty natural gas from 10% to 35%, aim­ing to reduce the circulation debt of gas.

The session was attended by con­cerned federal ministers for finance, pe­troleum, law and justice, energy, chief ministers of all provinces, and relevant high-ranking government officials.

PM chairs NEC

Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar also chaired the National Economic Coun­cil meeting on Monday in Islamabad.

The meeting was attended by Feder­al Ministers Dr Shamsad Akhtar, Sami Saeed, Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Chief Justic­es (Retired) Maqbool Baqir and Syed Ar­shad Hussain Shah, Sardar Ali Mardan Dhomki, and other high officials.

The session provided detailed in­sights into the country’s overall eco­nomic situation. 

“Tax revenue is the people’s mon­ey; hence, all developmental projects should revolve around public welfare,” emphasised the Prime Minister.

Accelerating the pace of work on ma­jor national development projects and ensuring their completion within de­fined timelines were highlighted as pri­orities by the Prime Minister.

The importance of enhancing infra­structure in transportation, develop­ment of hydroelectric and water re­serves, agriculture, industry, and the progress of individuals, especially youth, with the inclusion of informa­tion technology, was underscored in the development budget by the Prime Minister’s directive.

The Prime Minister stated that the Na­tional Economic Council is the largest constitutional body in the country for economic decision-making, involving provinces and the federal government.

Emphasising consultation with prov­inces in decision-making for develop­mental projects, the Prime Minister highlighted the federal government’s commitment to achieving national de­velopmental goals. Despite numerous economic challenges, the Prime Minis­ter expressed satisfaction that the gov­ernment’s focused efforts in projects prioritising public welfare could lead to national development. 

According to PM office commu­nique, the session discussed a 6-point agenda:

1. Approval of priorities and guid­ing principles for the national develop­ment budget for the fiscal year 2024-25. New guiding principles suggest allocating budget funds based on pri­ority for projects where 80% of the work is completed, with only 10% re­served for new projects in the develop­mental budget.

2. Inclusion of newly integrated are­as (former FATA) and 20 marginalized districts in the federal development budget, rather than provincial projects, for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Prime Minister directed a com­prehensive assessment of the criteria for ranking marginalized districts to ensure their inclusion in the list.

3. Review of progress under the Fed­eral PSDP (2023-24). The Apex Com­mittee’s recommendation for special capital facilities was presented, focusing on ensuring adequate funding for the Prime Minister’s programs for youth de­velopment and talent scholarship.

4. Presentation of the 13th Five-Year Development Plan, focusing on vari­ous regions’ progress, environmental changes, tourism, agriculture, indus­try, energy, governance, foreign invest­ment, facilitation of small and medi­um-sized businesses, improvement in governance procedures, and technolo­gy initiatives for service delivery.

5. Presentation of reports from Pub­lic Investment Management Assess­ment (PIMA) and Climate. 

Recommendations from the reports were discussed, and the council direct­ed practical measures to strengthen the country against adverse effects of climate change and natural disasters.

6. Evaluation of economic decimals for the current fiscal year: The meet­ing revealed that the initial three months witnessed a 2.1% overall eco­nomic growth, contributing to achiev­ing the annual growth target of 3.5%. The Prime Minister expressed satisfac­tion with the tangible measures taken for economic recovery and instructed to expedite further actions.

Additionally, the council received a report from the sub-committee on Sus­tainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasising the inclusion of projects in the national development budget that are progressing rapidly and prior­itizing climate finance due to Pakistan being among the countries most affect­ed by climate change. 

The council also directed the collabo­ration of all provinces and federal enti­ties for a Multi-sector Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) to provide an accurate perspective on public welfare and eco­nomic development nationwide.