KARACHI: The provincial government of Sindh says that gas sector reforms will only be allowed to advance if constitutional provisions that govern questions of ownership of, and entitlement to, natural gas between centre and province are “fully implemented”.

In question are Articles 158 and 172(3) of the constitution, which split ownership rights jointly between centre and the provincial governments, while giving provinces “precedence over other parts of Pakistan” in utilising the gas produced from any well head within their territory. In a written communication to Dawn, the provincial government also claimed that the minutes of the 2nd Technical Committee meeting on gas sector reforms held on August 8th, 2017 were “poorly recorded” and created an impression that Sind has changed its position on the gas sector reforms.

It says the provincial government has asked the Ministry of Energy to “issue revised minutes” that “correctly reflect the position” of Sind. The communication, however, did not explicitly say that the Sind government opposes the structure of the gas sector reforms that envision an unbundling of the two main distribution companies.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2018