No Passengers ,No planes china funded 240m Gwadar airport sits idle

Gwadar port

With no passengers and no planes, Pakistan’s newest and most expensive airport is a bit of a mystery. Entirely financed by China to the tune of $240 million, it’s anyone’s guess when New Gwadar International Airport will open for business. Located in the coastal city of Gwadar and completed in Oct 2024, its a stark contrast to the impoverished, restive southwestern BalochistanFor the past decade, China has poured money into Balochistan and Gwadar as part of a multibillion dollar project that connects its western Xinjiang province with Arabian Sea, called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or…

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Pakistan, Azerbaijan sign agreements, MOUs on trade and energy

trade and energy

Islamabad —  Pakistan and Azerbaijan have signed agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs), chiefly about trade and energy, during a visit to Azerbaijan by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif arrived Sunday in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, for a two-day visit to hold talks with President Ilham Aliyev and other top officials. In a post on social media, the Pakistani leader said he had an “excellent meeting” with Aliyev, saying the two worked on finalizing a portfolio of investments Azerbaijan plans to make in Pakistan. Aliyev promised a $2 billion…

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Lost in transmission

Power-sector

Pakistan’s power transmission system serves as the backbone of the electricity sector, facilitating the transfer of electricity from power generation plants to consumers across the country. However, despite significant investments in generation capacity, the transmission network remains outdated, inefficient and increasingly strained, preventing the effective delivery of electricity where it is needed the most. The country has invested heavily in expanding power generation, particularly in coal, nuclear and renewable energy projects, but the benefits of this expansion remain unrealised due to severe transmission bottlenecks. The National Transmission & Despatch Company…

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OGDCL awards LCE CleanTech/EnergyTech grant

Oil prices

LONDON: Oil prices steadied on Monday as investors awaited clarity on talks to end the war in Ukraine and weighed up the prospect of a resumption in crude exports from northern Iraq. Brent futures were up 13 cents, or 0.2%, at $74.56 barrel by 1103 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $70.51. Both Brent and WTI dropped by more than $2 on Friday, registering weekly declines of 0.4% and 0.5% respectively. All eyes remain on efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine,…

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Asia LNG imports set to drop to 22-month low as Europe surge drives prices: Russell

lng

LAUNCESTON: Asia’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are poised to drop to the lowest in nearly two years in February, while Europe’s are set to surge to the second-highest on record. The weakness in Asia shows buyers are shunning expensive spot cargoes, with prices at least 50% higher than what they were this time last year. A milder-than-usual winter across much of North Asia has also dampened demand, and allowed European buyers to bid for cargoes as part of efforts to re-stock the continent’s depleted inventories. Asia, the top-importing…

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