PESHAWAR, Jan 10: The country is losing $2 billion annually owing to gas transmission and distribution losses triggered by poor governance and lack of an apt policy framework, according to Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP).

“This figure is based on the Planning Commission’s own data and could be easily verified if someone looks in it with some detail,” said Asif Mehmood, CRCP project manager, while making a presentation at a policy dialogue titled  ‘Natural gas governance initiative -- Pakistan’ here on Thursday.

He said that lack of policy framework, transparency, accountability and inequitable distribution of gas loadshedding were responsible for the existing energy crisis in the country.

The presentation highlighted the causes of the existing energy crisis in the country, possible remedies to come out of it and consumers’ rights and responsibilities to end their ongoing energy woes and guide the policy formulation process, improving governance in the gas sector.

The dialogue, arranged jointly by CRCP and Citizens’ Voice Project, was aimed at sharing the gas sector analysis report with a group of diversified stakeholders, including members of political and religious parties, civil society organisations, human right groups, government departments and media organisations.

The CRCP expert said that Pakistan’s energy mix had undergone a sharp shift during the last few years owing to misplaced policy preferences as a result of which the country’s reliance on natural gas had outgrown the energy sector’s dependence on oil.

The reliance on gas, he added, was not self sustainable because the country’s existing gas production capabilities were insufficient to meat the rising consumption requirements.

In this connection, he said Pakistan’s annual gas consumption would register a massive growth by the year 2025, making it impossible to sustain the country’s gas reserves.

Mr Mehmood said it was ironic that Pakistan had paid no attention to effectively utilise its massive hydro power, coal and wind power potential to its advantage, overexploiting its natural gas reserves in an unplanned manner.

India and China, he said, had been massively using their coal reserves to generate electricity, but in Pakistan the policymakers ignored it intentionally to show love for environmental protection.

“We don’t have any energy policy,” said Mr Masood, adding that had there been a policy framework in place Pakistan would not have recorded its annual electricity production going down from 43,472 GWhr in 2005 to 25,879 GWhr in 2011.

In Pakistan, he added, industrial and fertiliser sectors were getting gas on subsidised rates, while the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations were being subjected to an exorbitantly high tariff regime, neglecting the general public’s interest.

He said the gas consumers’ woes could not be resolved unless Pakistan had an autonomous regulator free of political interference. Besides, the problems could not be resolved without improving people’s access to information, putting in place a system of strict penalties on consumers involved in gas pilferage and non-payment of gas bills.

Gas consumers, Mr Mehmood said, had a national obligation to fulfil under the given situation as they held the power to improve governance, policy and regulatory formulation process by refusing to become a part of the existing corrupt system through payment of bribes to the gas companies’ officials.

Idrees Kamal, a civil society member, said that bad governance could be put to an end by implementing 18th Amendment that asked for devolving power to the federal units to manage their natural resources.

Another participant said that gas sector problems were the result of the Musharraf government’s policies, including the introduction of CNG as a fuel to run vehicles.