Crude oil futures climb back into positive territory

Oil price

US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 1%, or 0.01%, at $83.15 a barrel at 1651 GMT HOUSTON: US crude futures returned to positive territory on Monday after falling on easing fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 1 cent, or 0.01 percent, at $83.15 a barrel at 1651 GMT. The front-month WTI crude contract for May expires on Monday.Brent crude futures were down 33 cents, or 0.38 percent, at $86.96 a barrel. Both benchmarks had been down more than $1…

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Gas crisis looms as line pack pressure hits dangerous level

New-RLNG

ISLAMABAD: The country’s system line pack has once again increased alarmingly to 5.070 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), putting the whole gas transmission line under severe stress. This is mainly due to the lower utilisation of regulated liquefied natural gas (RLNG) by the power and industrial sectors. To decrease the line pack pressure, Sui gas companies are excessively diverting the costly RLNG to the domestic sector, even after the beginning of the summer season. This will cause a further increase in gas tariffs for the domestic sector, senior officials…

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Pakistan Faces Dire Climate Threats, World Bank Warns

Climate-Threats

The threat of climate change exacerbates existing vulnerabilities within Pakistan, amplifying risks to livelihoods, food security, and water resources. The World Bank has sounded the alarm, highlighting Pakistan’s acute vulnerability to the ravages of climate change. In a recent report titled “Second Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy: Climate Change Technical Note,” the global financial institution underscored that the South Asian nation faces frequent fiscal shocks due to extreme weather events. The threat of climate change exacerbates existing vulnerabilities within Pakistan, amplifying risks to livelihoods, food security, and water resources. Around…

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Chronic power defaulters: Govt faces challenging task of over Rs1trn recovery

power-sector

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has the challenging task of recovering the huge amount of over Rs1 trillion from chronic running defaulters of five power Distribution Companies (Discos) of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.Last week, Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari at a press conference revealed that total stock of receivables stood at Rs 1.9 trillion as of February 28, 2024. The stock of circular debt is about Rs 2.6 trillion.Background interviews with officials indicate that the share of Punjab-based Discos i.e. Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Gujranwala…

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PM urges cut in plastic use on Earth Day

Earth-Day

Shehbaz Sharif noted that Pakistan was among one of the most climate-vulnerable countries ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, along with nations worldwide, observed International Earth Day on Monday, focusing on the theme ‘Planet vs Plastics’ to raise awareness about plastic usage, its environmental impacts, and the imperative to reduce dependency, aiming for a plastic-free Earth.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his message on the occasion, appealed to the nation to reduce the use of plastics, embrace recycling and eco-friendly alternatives and advocate for stronger environmental policies at every level of society.“We have initiated an…

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