Oil, gas reserves discovered in Attock a national asset: Shehbaz

LAHORE, Oct 13 (APP):Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Friday said we are thankful to Allah Almighty that new reserves of oil and gas have been discovered in Punjab after a long period of time.
These national resources, which have been discovered in Attock area of Punjab, are national assets and the property of 21 crore people of the country.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government got a stay order from the high court when gas was discovered in that province. But we won’t do it because the resource is property of the whole
nation, said the chief minister.
He said Pakistan consists of federating units including
Punjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan, and other territories including Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). He said the country would become prosperous only when all  the federating units and other territories would be developed.
He expressed these views while addressing the inaugural
ceremony of Jhandial-I Project of oil and gas at Attock on
Friday. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was the chief guest
at the ceremony.
In his address, the chief minister said the discovery
of oil and gas reserves in Attock is a good news and for that,
the prime minister, people of Pakistan, especially Punjab, as
well as the Attock Oil Company deserve congratulations. It is
definitely the result of untiring efforts of engineers, executives, technicians and laborers that new reserves have been discovered
in Attock.
The CM said that 2,500-barrel oil would be pumped out from these
oil wells daily which will help strengthen the national economy.
It will increase the natural gas reserves as well, he added.
High-quality gas and oil has been found from this well and its
pressure is also good, the CM said.
It is our responsibility to bring about a revolution and change
lives of the common people through efficient and just utilization
of these resources so that Pakistan could emerge as a vibrant
economic power on the global map, he added.
He said Pakistan is a strong country as far as its defence
is concerned. It is a nuclear power as well, but we also need
to be self-reliant economically. It is against the honor of a
nuclear power to hold a begging bowl in its hands. Begging bowl
is not our destiny, and it was placed in out hands due to bad
policies of the past rulers. If the nation decides with consistency
to move further with collective vision and efforts, then no worldly obstacle can hinder our path, and all difficulties will die down
automatically.
He said the efforts for overcoming energy crisis, made under the leadership of PML-N Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, are bearing fruit and energy programs are being furthered successfully under the
leadership of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. He said that
the federal and Punjab governments have installed 3600MW gas power
plants in the province which are providing electricity to the whole of Pakistan. 1200MW gas power plant has been set up by the Punjab government with its own resources, while 2400MW gas power plants have been set up by the federal government, he added.
The CM said that Rs 112 billion have been saved in these gas-based projects and added that it is not a proverbial love story but a reality. The consumer is getting cheap electricity from these projects which is a big success. The Punjab government has also decided to set up another gas power plant of 1263MW capacity; agreement has been signed and the foundation stone of this project will be laid down at the end of this month. This is the biggest as well as the cheapest project in the history of the country which will provide 800MW electricity in 14 months, while 1263MW electricity will be included in the national grid in 26 months due to this project.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Jhandial-I Project and prayed for its success.