President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said LNG project is balancing the energy mix which was heavily tilted towards oil.

The project which is recognized globally but criticized locally will reduce the dependence on oil, save foreign exchange and reduce the speed of environmental degradation, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that this project proves foresight of the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi but unfortunately some elements continue to criticize it to gain political mileage.

The Former Minister said that as Minister for Petroleum Mr. Abbasi reached to the conclusion that import of gas from Iran is impossible due to US sanctions while import of gas from Turkmenistan is not possible anytime soon.

He did not keep masses in the dark and came up with the alternative of LNG and introduce it in the record time which infused new life in the industrial sector, he added.

The business leader said that first LNG policy was made in 2005 which failed to attract investors, the same policy was improved in 2011 but the result remained the same but when PML-N came to power in 2013 the things changed.

Now, the power plants are operating on imported and clean fuel, Pakistan has emerged as an exporter of urea while seventy percent of the CNG stations in which masses had invested trillions of rupees have become operational after years.

Mian Zahid Hussain Further said that converting railways on the LNG will save over forty percent of fuel expenses while conversion of furnace oil power plants on LNG can help the country save around two billion dollars per annum.