Monday, August 25 2025

Top official replaced amid controversy over KP gas field award
The government has removed a senior petroleum division official on orders from the PM Office, following a controversy involving the award of a majority government-owned gas field to third party, sources told Dawn. Director General Petroleum Concessions Kashif Ali, a grade 20 officer, has been transferred to the administration/policy wing of the petroleum division. In his stead, Imran Ahmad, who currently serves as director general (oil), has been given ‘look after charge’ of this post, in addition to his existing responsibilities. The removal comes as a deal neared finalisation to allow gas to flow from a majority government-owned field in Kohat to a private party through a negotiated sale, a process that has drawn scrutiny from multiple government bodies and private stakeholders.
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Wednesday, August 20 2025

PM Shehbaz orders probe into Rs50bn gas bill shock
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an independent probe into the controversial Rs50 billion gas billing dispute involving influential consumer groups and the gas utility sector. The investigation will be led by former federal secretary Shahid Khan, following complaints from industrial and CNG consumers who received sudden bills for past gas dues, dating back to 2015. Sources confirmed that the prime minister has constituted a special inquiry committee to examine the matter. The dispute centres around the Lahore-based Sui Northern Gas Company Ltd (SNGPL), which issued revised bills for the period between April 2015 and June 2022. These bills were based on updated notifications from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).
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Wednesday, August 06 2025

Oil prices fall
Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as rising Opec+ supply and worries of weaker global demand countered concern about US President Donald Trump’s threats to India over its Russian oil purchases. Brent crude futures were down 58 cents, or 0.84pc, to $68.18 a barrel at 12:17 p.m. EDT (1617 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 59 cents, or 0.89pc, to $65.7. Both contracts fell by more than 1pc on Monday to settle at their lowest levels in a week. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, together known as Opec+, agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, a move that will end its most recent output cut earlier than planned.
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Tuesday, August 05 2025

Trump warns he will ‘substantially’ raise tariffs on India over Russian oil purchases
United States President Donald Trump said on Monday he will substantially raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil. Trump last week said he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods imported from India and added that the world’s fifth-largest economy would also face an unspecified penalty, but gave no details. Later, Trump mou­nted a sharp attack and said: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.” Over the weekend, two Indian government sources told Reuters that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump’s threats. In turn, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller had accused India of effectively financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow.
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Monday, August 04 2025

V8 nations aim to boost oil output by 0.5m barrels
The Voluntary Eight (V8) — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Russia — announced on Sunday they would increase oil production by 547,000 barrels a day in a move that analysts say aims to regain market share amid resilient crude prices. As currently they produce about 41 to 42 million barrels a day, the increase would be about 1.5 per cent, though analysts believe with the Brent reference oil currently selling at about $70 a barrel, there is unlikely to be a major impact on prices. “The eight participating countries will implement a production adjustment of 547,000 barrels per day in September 2025 from August 2025 required production level,” said a statement released after a meeting where the hike was agreed upon.
Related news categories: business misc oilgas-marketing