(126th Session) SENATE SECRETARIAT ————— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the Senate to be held on Friday, the 4th March, 2016 DEFERRED QUESTIONS i. (Question No. 161 deferred on 30th December, 2015 (122nd Session) ii. (Questions Nos. 108, 112, 115, 119, 121 and 122 deferred on 22nd January, 2016 (123rd Session) (Def.) *Question No. 161. Senator Farhatullah Babar: (Notice received on 23-11-2015 at 09:00 a.m.) Will the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs be pleased to state: (a) whether the Election Commission of Pakistan maintains a record of the requests for change / transfer of votes from one constituency to another and of the action taken on the same, if not, its reasons; (b) the number of voters registered in NA-122, Lahore, at the time of 2013 general elections who opted / requested for transfer of their votes to other constituencies after the elections 2013 and prior to bye-election, 2015 with year wise break up; and (c) the number of voters registered in other constituencies of Lahore who opted / requested for registration of their votes in NA- 122 after the election 2013 and prior to bye-election 2015 in that constituency with year wise break up? Sheikh Aftab Ahmad: (a) The Election Commission maintains record of requests for change/transfer of votes from one constituency to another for one year as provided under Rule 19 of the Electoral Rolls Rules, 1974. (b) The year-wise break-up of voters registered at the time of General Elections 2013 and bye-election 2015 in respect of Constituency No. NA-122 Lahore-V is as under: —————————————————————————————— At the time of At the time of General bye-election Elections, 2013 2015 —————————————————————————————— 322913 347762 —————————————————————————————— However, the matter regarding registered voters who opted/requested for transfer of their voters after the General Elections 2013 and prior to the bye-election 2015 is subjudice before the ECP. (c) The case regarding Number of transfer/deletion of votes in constituency No. NA- 122 is subjudice before the ECP. (Def.) *Question No. 108. Senator Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi: (Notice received on 29-07-2015 at 10:15 a.m.) Will the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources be pleased to state: (a) the steps being taken by the Government for exploration of shale gas in the country; and (b) the date on which the last study on shale gas in the country was completed indicating also the results thereof? Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: (a) Government is making all-out efforts to explore and exploit shale gas resources in the country and has taken the following steps so far; (i) US Energy Information Administration (USEIA) in April 2011 reported 206 TCF shale gas in place resources in Lower Indus Basin out of which 51 TCF were technically recoverable. Later on in June 2013, USEIA revised shale gas in-place resources in Pakistan as 586 TCF out of which 105 TCF were considered technically recoverable. In addition, 9.1 billion barrels shale oil technically recoverable resources out of 227 billion barrels shale oil in-place was estimated. (ii) In order to authenticate USEIA resource estimates and assess the availability of required technology and infrastructure for shale gas operations in the country, USAID-EPP was engaged for geological assessment of shale gas resources in Pakistan by utilizing high-tech interpretation softwares to existing well logs, cores/cuttings and geo-chemical reports. (iii) Sweet spots for shale gas exploration identified in the study area. (iv) Interim shale gas policy framework is being prepared for pilot projects in order to test the identified sweet areas. (v) Based on the results of the pilot projects, shale gas policy will be formulated for exploration and exploitation of shale gas and shale oil in the country. (b) The shale gas study by USAID-EPP was initiated in Jan. 2014 and concluded in Dec. 2015. Risked technically recoverable shale gas and shale oil resources in the Lower and Middle Indus Basins are 95 TCF (trillion cubic feet) and 14 billion bbl respectively. (Def.) *Question No. 112. Senator Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi: (Notice received on 26-10-2015 at 09:00 a.m.) Will the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources be pleased to state the types of taxes included in the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene oil during the year 2013- 14 indicating also the justification thereof? Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: Types of taxes included in the prices of Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene Oil during the year 2013-14 are as under:— Products Taxes Petrol Petroleum Levy + GST Diesel Custom Duty + Petroleum Levy + GST Kerosene Petroleum Levy + GST Taxes and levies are imposed by Finance Division to generate revenue for utilization on the development work in the country. Therefore further justification for imposing taxes may be sought from Finance Division. (Def.) *Question No. 115. Senator Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani: (Notice received on 14-12-2015 at 09:15 a.m.) Will the Minister for Water and Power be pleased to state the number of persons presently working in the Ministry of Water and Power, its attached departments, corporations, subordinate offices and institutions etc. with grade-wise and province-wise breakup? Khawaja Muhammad Asif: I. Ministry of Water and Power The infomation in respect of M/o Water and Power is at Annex-A. II. DISCOs/GENCOs/NTDC/CPPA/PEPCO The infomation in respect of distribution companies (DISCOs), generation companies GENCOs), National Transmission Company (NTDC), Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is as under:— III. Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) 17,320 persons are presently working in WAPDA. Grade wise as well as province wise detail of employees is attached as Annex-20. IV. Federal Flood Commission (FFC) The information in respect of Federal Flood Commission is at Annex-21. V. National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) The information in respect of NESPAK is at Annex-22. VI. Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) The information in respect of PPIB is at Annex-23. VII. Nation Energy Conservation Centre (ENERCON) The information in respect of ENERCON is at Annex-24. VIII. Indus River System Authority (IRSA) The information in respect of IRSA is at Annex-25. IX. Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Water (PCIW) The information in respect of PCIW is at Annex-26. X. Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) The information in respect of AEDB is at Annex-27. (Annexures have been placed on the Table of the House as well as Library.) (Def.) *Question No. 119. Senator Aurangzeb Khan: (Notice received on 04-01-2016 at 10:15 a.m.) Will the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources be pleased to state: (a) the prices of various petroleum products in International Markets at present; (b) the ratio / percentage of benefit being provided to the consumers in the country on account of low prices of the said products in International market; and (c) the names and rates of various taxes imposed on those products in the country? Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: (a) The average monthly FOB prices of various petroleum products in International (Arab Gulf) Market during the month of February 2015 are as under:— Products International Market FOB Prices Petrol (MS 95 RON) 42.638 ($/BBL) Kerosene (SKO) 38.936 ($/BBL) Diesel (0.05% HSD) 36.297 ($/BBL) Crude Oil 28.728 ($/BBL) (b) the ratio/percentage of benefit provided to the consumers in the country during the month of March 2016 is as under:— Products Benefit/Ratio (Rs./litre) Petrol (MS) 8.48 (11.9 %) HOBC 2.98 (3.9%) Kerosene (SKO) 1.66 (3.8%) Diesel (HSD) 4.67 (6.2%) Light diesel Oil (LDO) 1.97 (4.9%) (c) Names and rates of various taxes imposed on those products during the month of January 2016 are as under:— Product Custom Duty Petroleum Levy GST Total MS 0.87 10.00 14.48 25.35 HOBC - 14.00 18.57 32.57 Kerosene - 4.34 10.40 14.74 HSD 2.74 8.00 29.57 40.31 LDO - 3.00 9.63 12.63 (Def.) *Question No. 121. Senator Kalsoom Parveen: (Notice received on 04-01-2016 at 04:00 p.m.) Will the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources be pleased to state: (a) the quantum and value of copper, gold and other metals being extracted from the Saindak mines, Balochistan, on daily basis; and (b) the profit earned from the said metals on daily basis and the share of Federal and provincial Governments out of the same? Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: (a) The requisite information in respect of Saindak Copper-Gold Project, District Chagai – Balochistan (SCGP) based on statistics for the last accounted year 2014 is tabulated below:— —————————————————————————————— Item Description Unit Year 2014 Average per day* —————————————————————————————— Metals Production: Blister Copper Metric Tons 13,210 44.03 Gold Ounces 35,363 117.88 Silver Ounces 55,929 186.43 —————————————————————————————— Sales Value US$ 126,146,561 420,488 —————————————————————————————— * Project is operated in calendar year cycle and the daily average is based on 300 working days per year. (b) The profit earned by SCGP during the last year (2014) amounted US$ 22,087,534, averaging US$ 73,625.11/day @300 working days per year. The Project profit is equally shared between Chinese operator company and Saindak Metals Limited (SML) [entity owned by Government of Pakistan (GoP)], which apportions 60% of its net profit to Government of Balochistan (GoB) as per Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e•Balochistan Package. The earnings of GoP/SML and GoB for the year 2014 were as follows:— Earnings of GoP/SML for the year 2014 (in US$) —————————————————————————————— EPZ Presumptive SML Net Annual Total to Service Charges Income Tax Profit Share Rent GoP —————————————————————————————— 644,218 1,288,436 3,097,427 500,000 5,530,081 —————————————————————————————— Earnings of GoB for the year 2014 (in US$) —————————————————————————————— Royalty GoB profit share GoB profit share Total to from MRDL from SML GoB —————————————————————————————— 6,390,494 1,104,377 4,646,140 12,141,011 —————————————————————————————— (Def.) *Question No.