The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Distributors Association of Pakistan (LPGDAP) held the second international conference here on Tuesday, March 14 in collaboration with the South Asian Media Management organisation.
LPGDAP Chairman Irfan Khokhar hosted the conference, while Federal Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi appeared as the guest of honour, and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi attended as the chief guest. Although a six-hour delay in the flight of the petroleum minister to Lahore delayed the event by a couple of hours, the conference managed to laud the success of importers and the government officials in the price control and availability of LPG across the country.
The day-long conference was geared towards devising a roadmap to streamline the issues confronted by the LPG sector.The conference was be attended by delegates across the country and across borders including LPG importers, distributors, marketing companies cylinder manufacturers, regulators, Pakistan State Oil, Pak-Arab Refinery Company, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan as well as senior officials of the concerned departments.
In his address, Abbasi said that while the producers and importers are responsible for half the job, it is also the consumers’ responsibility to ensure fair and legal consumption of LPG so that the sector develops and benefits both the producers and consumers. Answering a question, he also said that the delay noticed in the global prices and its implementation in Pakistan is not synonymous with the lack of performance of the authorities, but is in fact because of the contracts already signed between the PSO and the international entities. He said that a 60 to 90 day gap is inevitable between any change in the global setting and its impact in the country because the contracts have to be made again according to the new prices.
The conference also lauded the efforts of the top six importers of the country and, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi distributed trophies among them. Pyramid Gas CEO Muhammad Imran Khan bagged the award for the biggest importer of LPG, and therefore the largest distributor of LPG in the country.
