August 27, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 28, 1424

ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Saudi Arabia has assured Pakistan it would continue to provide oil and other petroleum products under special arrangements, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Ch Nouraiz Shakoor said here on Tuesday.

The minister was talking to APP at the conclusion of a five-day visit to Saudi Arabia as member of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali entourage.

He said the Prime Minister thanked King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz for continuing the facility and said it would go a long way in strengthening Pakistan’s economy.

Pakistan, he said, had also offered Saudi Arabia to participate in the privatization of public sector units such as Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) and others or enter in joint ventures with these companies.

About progress on Iran-Pakistan-India gas line he said, India has given indications that

it will “consider” the project.

He said the thaw in relations between Pakistan and India would help the project.

For the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline project, he said a letter by the petroleum ministers of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan had been written to their Indian counterpart and a reply was awaited.

He said one LPG plant had started operation in Mirpur AJK and another one was being constructed, which would help meet the demand of these areas. The administration at AJK and Northern Areas needed to set up check posts to verify that their quota for LPG was being met.

When asked about Tasman Spirit disaster and Pakistan’s capability of handling it, he said, the government was in the process of taking a decision on priority how to manage such incidents in future. He said at present Pakistan lacked the training and equipment for such accidents.—APP