Category: Recent Post

The recent hike in the prices of motor gasoline, more commonly known as petrol, is being widely criticised. The following paragraphs are an attempt at looking for measures which might help in reducing our dependence upon petrol. Historical perspective and current status Historically, Pakistan’s petrol consumption witnessed a 15 fold increase as it rose from 12,500 barrels per day (bpd) in 1980 to 195,000 bpd in 2021. The number seems quite high even when compared to the population growth during the period. The anomaly accentuates further when we realise that…

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The energy problem of Pakistan has always been more of a political subject than a technical one. Occasional on-the-move decisions and short-term planning have turned the situation worse with the passage of time. Every new government resorts to criticising the past one for the mess. For example, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) blamed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership for corruption and granting undue favours to the independent power producers (IPPs). The current Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government blames both of its predecessors for the ballooning circular debt, which touched a…

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The previous fiscal year was one of the most difficult periods for Pakistan’s oil sector. The oil and gas producers, oil refiners and oil marketing companies faced multiple challenges in 2020-21 such as the second and third waves of the Coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns, travel restrictions, economic slump and volatility in international commodity prices. The business environment, however, started to get better from the second half of the financial year following the re-opening of the global economy. Pakistan also witnessed an improvement in trade and commerce activities. This was accompanied by…

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The foreign and local sponsors of two upcoming merchant LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals have complained to the prime minister that their projects are facing roadblocks despite approval by all institutional forums and they may not be able to go ahead with their investment plans in the prevailing conditions. Informed sources told Dawn that both sponsors — Tabeer Energy of Mitsubishi Corporation Japan and Energas of three local business groups (Lucky, Sapphire and Halmore) — have reported to the government that they are fed up with bureaucratic wrangling over clear decisions of…

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Federal Minister for Energy has contradicted the State of Industrial Report 2021, published by the regulator, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), in his tweets and in his limited interaction with the media. Interestingly, he is not offering any other version, but just relying on the denial of the content of report and discrediting the media, which is using the report to raise questions on underutilisation of the efficient LNG plants to produce power or violating the merit order. Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Ke Sath’, in its show…

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