Fuel and Energy - PSO's receivables soar to Rs 160 billion

PSO's receivables soar to Rs 160 billion

ABDUL RASHEED AZAD ISLAMABAD (June 21, 2014) :Pakistan State Oil's
outstanding dues against power sector stand at Rs 160 billion of which Rs 140 million are
overdue, Petroleum Ministry officials said. The company has to clear a total of Rs 52 billion on
account of Letter of Credit (LC) payments to Kuwait Petroleum Company Limited and other
international fuel suppliers by the end of June of which Rs 32 billion is due this weekend. Two
weeks ago the Petroleum Ministry requested the Ministry of Finance to arrange Rs 32 billion for
PSO, but on Wednesday the Ministry of Finance released Rs 20 billion of which only Rs 10
billion was paid to PSO, while the rest of the amount was distributed among some Independent
Power Producers (IPPs), the officials added. According to officials, the Ministry of Water and
Power has asked the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to increase furnace oil
supply from current level of 20,000 tons per day to 25,000 tons per day during Ramazan to
power houses so that power load-shedding could be minimised. However, this is not possible
with Rs 160 billion payable to PSO which explains why it requires releases from the Ministry of
Finance. Officials said that at present PSO's total receivables and payables have crossed Rs
300 billion mark of which Rs 184 billion are receivables and Rs 116.7 billion are payables.
PSO's outstanding dues against power sector have crossed Rs 160 billion mark of which Rs
104.3 billion is against Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Rs 44.5 billion
against Hub Power Company (Hubco), Rs 10.45 billion against Kot Addu Power Company
(Kapco), Rs 5.27 billion against Karachi Electric Supply Company (now KE) and Rs 749 million
against Saba Power and Southern Electric. While the national fuel supplying company's
outstanding dues against other clients stand at Rs 12 billion, including Rs 7.65 billion against
Pakistan International Airline (PIA), Rs 782 billion against Pakistan Railways, Rs 252 million
against NLC and Rs 350 million against Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL).
PSO has to pay Rs 13.56 billion to local refineries and Rs 103.2 billion to international fuel
suppliers. According to an official of the ministry, "the Finance Ministry is up-to-date on the
payments on account of the power sector subsidy but the Ministry of Water and Power should
expedite recovery from both consumers and provinces so it could pay PSO on time." "Due to
inefficiency of the Ministry of Water and Power and Power Distribution Companies (Discos)
PSO time and again faces international default situation. The government needs to compel the
power producers and other clients to pay PSO outstanding dues as the state oil entity is
supplying fuel to power houses on government guarantee while Wapda and other concerned
departments fail to recover electricity bills from defaulters," sources added. Copyright
Business Recorder, 2014


1 / 1