• Miftah warns against making “hasty decisions without proper assessment”.
• Says sugar mills could enter sector quickly if ethanol proves viable.
• Expresses doubts about immediate rollout due to infrastructure issues.
  

ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister and Awaam Pakistan Party (APP) leader Miftah Ismail has urged a careful, thoroughly researched approach to Pakistan’s ethanol blending policy to reduce oil prices.

“It’s always good to take a look and evaluate things, but one should be careful in changing policy,” he said while speaking to The News.

Miftah cautioned against making “hasty” decisions without proper assessment, adding that exploring the feasibility of ethanol blending is reasonable, but any policy adjustments should be considered carefully. 

He noted that if ethanol production proves commercially viable, sugar mills would naturally move into the sector. “They will get one more market and hope the price of ethanol will increase,” he added.

Discussing the possible impact on oil marketing companies, Miftah said outcomes would depend largely on government policy. If firms are mandated to blend a fixed percentage, such as 10% ethanol, and given a set price, many could procure ethanol at lower rates and retain the margin as profit.

The former finance minister suggested that the Ministry of Petroleum, in collaboration with Pakistan State Oil and representatives of the sugar industry, could quickly conduct a basic assessment. “This can be studied within a couple of days, after which options can be worked out,” he said.

However, he expressed reservations about immediate implementation, citing practical challenges such as blending mechanisms, required infrastructure, and timelines. “I don’t think it will be feasible and implementable right away,” he remarked.

Miftah linked the economic viability of ethanol blending to global oil prices, saying it becomes attractive when Brent crude oil trades above $100 per barrel.

“At normal oil prices of $60 to $80, ethanol is generally not economically viable,” he explained.

Drawing comparisons, he pointed out that Brazil has a vast sugarcane and ethanol industry where sugar is often a byproduct, while the United States supports ethanol production through large-scale corn farming and policy mandates.

While acknowledging that current petrol prices in Pakistan could make ethanol blending appear financially feasible, he cautioned that operational and logistical constraints may limit its practicality in the short term.

Prince Harry, along with six other claimants, received some upsetting update on the phone hacking cases against the Daily Mail publisher as a verdict is soon to be announced.

King Charles’s younger son had claimed that the British tabloid had used illicit and illegal methods of acquiring information for their articles. The Duke of Sussex had stressed that none of the people in his close circle would reveal intimate details.

Meanwhile, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and Sir Simon Hughes have also presented their evidence and witness statements in the course of the 10-week trial.

Senior current and former journalists and staff at Associated have also given evidence.

However, a key witness in the case, which could be considered as a decider of the verdict, backtracked his claims, suggesting that the claimants have been “conned” in statement on Monday.

Private investigator Gavin Burrows, appeared in court via video where he said that his signatures had been forged on that statement that said he “targeted hundreds, possibly thousands of people”.

Burrows told the court that the statement had “nothing to do with me”.

“You have got to explain to your claimants how you have been conned,” he said during an exchange with Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne.

“This thing is based on a pack of lies.”

Harry’s attorney argued that Burrows is only changing his statement because the private investigator had falling out with journalist Graham Johnson.

But Burrows remained adamant that the “whole thing is a thing of fiction”.

He told the court he had never worked for or been paid by Associated.

The verdict is expected to be announced later this month after the closing statements are delivered.

Meghan Markle had announced earlier this month that Netflix is no longer part of As Ever just 11 months into the launch.

There are many speculations about what is next for the Duchess of Sussex in Hollywood as the streaming giant deal was arguably the most lucrative offer that they after they had left the royal family in 2020.

Although, a Suits costar and a close friend of Meghan hinted that Prince Harry’s is ready to return to her acting roots in Hollywood.

Actor Eric Roberts, who played the shady billionaire Charles Forstman in the legal drama, told Daily Mail that Meghan “will come back”.

Meanwhile, Eric’s casting director wife, Eliza noted that “it is time” that Meghan “needs to come back to work”

She added, “I feel like her whole family will support it, and she is amazing.”

“I think she should come back. I think she will come back,” Eric insisted. “And I think she’s going to be fantastic and blow everybody’s mind.”

As for Meghan’s role in Suits, Eliza said that it was “tricky” because of the royal family as her role was “very sexy”.

However, she noted that the Netflix deal downgrade is not a setback for Meghan as she is a “star and that she is still a “young woman who needs to be acting”.

“From the second you see her, she just has star quality. It doesn’t matter. It was always going to happen,” the casting director said.

“She worked so hard to get there. That was just too much,” she continued. “Women don’t give up their jobs for a marriage anymore. I understand the intention, and she thought she’d be satisfied with doing good works in the world. But she needs to be acting.”