ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has barred the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) from issuing 26 marketing licences to compressed natural gas (CNG) stations it had approved last month, in view of increasing gas demand in the existing network.
According to the media that the government had also decided to seek review of Supreme Court orders that enabled Ogra to issue fresh CNG licences.
Ogra had also been asked to provide details and circumstances of its decision for issuing 26 licences and asked it to put on hold further action on remaining outstanding applications.
In the meanwhile, the quorum of Ogra has been dissolved following transfer of Arif Ahmad Khan, an Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division who was given acting charge of Member Oil, Ogra about two months ago.
Officials said the prime minister had exercised its discretionary powers to stop Ogra from issuing fresh licences. “This is understandable for Punjab from the standpoint of gas shortage because more stations would require more gas but not in the case of three other provinces where gas shortage is not an issue or is of manageable intensity,” they pointed out.
