LAHORE, Jan 29: The US investors are showing keen interest in oil and gas exploration in Pakistan because of the incentives given in the recently announced Petroleum Policy. “However, the Pakistan government still needs to create awareness about the benefits to attract more investors from other parts of the world as well,” said US Commercial Counsellor James Fluker during a visit to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday.

Accompanied by US Consulate Economic Officer Frank P Tallute, the commercial counsellor said that new discoveries of oil and gas could help Pakistan in overcoming its energy problem to some extent. He said there was a revolution in the US energy sector after the discovery of Shale gas. In fact the US has surplus gas that it could export.

Fluker said that a large part of US assistance to Pakistan is focused on energy as it is alive to the issue. The US government was committed to help solve the economic challenges being faced by Pakistan. He said that it was positive sign that the private sector in Pakistan has been doing well despite a number of challenges.

To a question about civil nuclear technology, Fluker said that no option should be discarded and should be taken up at higher level.

Earlier, LCCI president Farooq Iftikhar called for immediate US response to Pakistan’s energy woes. He said there must be some timeframe to this regard as Pakistan and US have very cordial relations for the last many decades. He said that a lot many problems could be solved if US grants greater access to Pakistani merchandise.

“It is urgent need of the hour to revive the economy of Pakistan through increasing the level of FDI which is also shying away due to security reasons. In the span of five years our FDI has come down from over $8 billion to around half a billion US dollars. The FTA between Pakistan and USA can be a good option to give much needed boost to exports. Moreover GSP plus arrangement with US can also provide great opportunity to Pakistani exporters to capture greater share in US market,” said Iftikhar.