Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has directed that the decisions regarding equitable distribution of gas taken in the last ECC meeting held on Dec 07 be implemented in true letter and spirit. The shortage of gas, he said, should be shared by all stakeholders and the judicious supply be ensured across the board. The Prime Minister was chairing a special high level meeting to review the gas supply situation throughout the country particularly the industrial sector in Punjab here on Monday at the PMs House. The Prime Minister further directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to expedite the decision regarding import of LNG with the concerned Ministries for early implementation. The Prime Minister also asked for convening of the Third review meeting of Energy Summit at the earliest in consultation with all the stakeholders. While elaborating upon the gas and energy situation, the Prime Minister emphasized that decisions taken in this regard should clearly reflect uniform approach in distribution of resources among all the stakeholders after taking them on board. The Prime Minister directed that both Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) should focus on reducing losses on account of leakages and theft. He further directed that effective policies should be adopted to ensure the use of certified appliances having efficiencies of 50 percent instead of the average 22 percent at present to help gas conservation. He also directed to launch public awareness campaign for adoption of conservation measures by the consumers. The Prime Minister stressed for measures to encourage entrepreneur friendly policies to further enhance exploration and increased gas availability. The Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif thanked the Prime Minister for his personal interest and attention towards resolving gas supply situation and appreciated his political sagacity and wisdom in handling national issues through consensus approach. The decisions taken in the meeting today, he said, would greatly help to avert the crisis situation in the country in general and in Punjab in particular. Earlier, the Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources briefed the participants of the meeting on the gas supply situation throughout the country highlighting the increasing demand of gas because of the winter season. He also mentioned that one of the reasons of shortage had been increase in domestic connections during the year. He also explained some of the difficulties in implementation of decisions taken earlier because of gas supply and consumption situation. He apprised the participants that additional gas supply is expected from some of the gas fields during the month of January as well as after closure of fertilizer plants for maintenance purpose which would help supplement the gas supplies among all the stakeholders. The representatives of APTMA, fertilizer industry, LNG importers and CNG also explained the difficulties of their respective sectors due to shortage of gas supply. The meeting was also attended by Raja Pervez Ashraf Minister for Water & Power, Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources Secretary, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Water & Power, Provincial Secretaries Industries and Commerce Punjab, MD PEPCO, MD SNGPL and other senior officials.