ISLAMABAD: All Pakistan Compressed Natural Gas Association (APCNGA) on Sunday expressed confidence that the government’s recent deal to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar would help revive the CNG sector, which was bearing the brunt of prevailing energy crisis in the country.

Pinning high hopes with the LNG import agreement and the government’s sincere efforts to overpower the energy shortage, APCNGA Chairman Ghiyas Paracha said that the deal would pave the way for reopening of hundreds of CNG outlets which had been closed due to prolonged gas suspension over the past several years.

He said CNG was an environment-friendly fuel and claimed that it was 30 per cent cheaper as compared to petrol at the existing rates, adding that CNG was being sold at Rs53 per litre and Rs 82 per kilogram.

Answering a question, he said the purpose behind selling the CNG in litre was to do its comparison with petrol so that consumers could feel the difference.

But, he said, efforts would be made to end the prevailing CNG price disparity in provinces and bring its prices to Rs 47per litre from Rs53 in consultation with the government.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2016