IF gas is used with the same kind of carelessness that is witnessed today, this nation of 180 millions may be headed towards a severer gas crisis. From the looks of it at this point in time, Pakistan may be in for a gas-less future.

Unlike most other developing countries, Pakistan has thoroughly enjoyed natural gas as a cheap household, commercial and industrial fuel. Whether it was the domestic front or commercial, the one thing that consumers never had to worry about was the abundance of cheap gas as their fuel of choice. This was a happy nation of gas guzzlers in a country where lazy housewives left their gas burners open to save even cheaper matchboxes; where it was not a big deal for the government to let motor transport switch to CNG; and where commercial and industrial users never considered natural gas a financial encumbrance on their operational expenses.

Today, the scenario is rather bleak. We are running out of the available gas reserves, no new exploratory work is being carried out and the government policies continue to give preference to domestic and transport sectors as opposed to industries. As a result, everyone is unhappy. The industrial sector is functioning at much less than its capacity, export targets are not being met and thousands have been rendered jobless.

Public transport, cargo carriers and common motorists spend a good part of their week waiting at CNG stations to fill their tanks. Finally, the housewife is dissatisfied because the flame in her stove is feeble at best.

This scarcity is also affecting the performance of industrial and commercial consumers. At the forefront are the power producers and distributors whose inability to deliver requisite volumes of electricity, emanating from thin gas supplies has a domino effect on industry, exports and the employment situation.

For their part, the gas companies too are dealing with problems of their own, the major ones being victim of the government’s no-holds-barred policy of permitting domestic and industrial gas connections, Unaccounted for Gas (UFG), resulting from gas theft at all consumer levels and payment defaults by such large consumers as KESC, Pakistan Steel Mills, etc.

It is, in fact, a Catch-22 situation. If the requisite gas volumes are not provided to KESC, despite the fact that it owes SSGC a whopping sum of Rs42 billion, the power utility resorts to load-shedding, which directly affects the common man. Similarly, if gas supply is cut to the Pakistan Steel Mills, which owes around Rs12 billion to SSGC, the main blast furnace stops functioning and the economy suffers.

The single most important factor that contributes to losses in the available gas is UFG. This occurs due to theft of gas by non-registered consumers. The theft occurs in all consumer segments through tampering of meters and bypassing them by rubber pipes. In certain residential areas, where the law and order situation is bad, the gas company has to continue supply in view of socio-political considerations despite non-payments. There are many residential areas where meter readers are not allowed to enter. There is also a stand-off between the gas suppliers and OGRA as to who will nab the thieves and take punitive action against them.

It needs to be emphasised that over the years, Pakistan has never been made to realise its over-dependence on gas. No policymaker has advised the government that the national fuel mix is weighted too heavily towards gas and this could create problems when the gas reserves begin to run out. While Pakistan has also been blessed with another relatively cheaper source of energy, namely hydro power, faulty strategic thinking has unfortunately allowed this resource to go unutilised.

There is an urgent need to take corrective measures and exploit the country’s potential in other energy resources, most importantly in hydro power and coal. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) also offers a convenient and economical alternative in this regard, both as a household and transport fuel. Serious attention must be given to introduce LPG as an alternate to natural gas.

Unfortunately, hydro power and coal are not readily available power sources at this juncture. The existing dams have exhausted their designed productive life and their efficiency levels can only be enhanced for a limited period. In the same context, despite the fact that coal deposits were discovered in 1991 in Thar, Sindh, this estimated 175-billion tonnes of treasure still lies unused.

With the rapidly changing political equation in Pakistan, it is likely that decisions pertaining to the national fuel mix may be overlooked and left to the new dispensation. It is imperative, therefore, that clear policy lines be drawn by technocrats and policymakers at this stage so that when the next government takes over, it is duly facilitated in taking quick decisions that would have a far-reaching impact.