KARACHI, May 4: Speakers at a seminar on “Pakistan’s National Energy Plan” have called for accelerating development of gas exploration and production as the country would require 90 MTOE of gas in 2020 as against the supply of 60 MTOE (million tons of equivalent). ENI Pakistan Limited Commercial Manager Shaukat Channa addressing the seminar, which was organized by the Pakistan Institute of Petroleum (PIP), here on Wednesday, said that there was a need to enhance gas production partly through utilization of indigenous energy sources and partly by pursuing other secure and viable options.
He further said that the government ministries and agencies needed to expedite the approvals process and also emphasised that a pipeline investment policy was urgently required.
SSGC Managing Director Munawar Baseer Ahmad pointed out how Pakistan’s per capita consumption of energy at 14 MBTU fared poorly in comparison with regional markets and the developed world. Although India and Pakistan were in a similar state, Malaysia consumes more than twice the energy, China five times and the UK more than 12 times. He added that even the energy utilization in Pakistan was much less efficient at 31 MBTU than the world average of 13 MBTU, says a press release.
Dwelling on the world oil and gas reserves versus production, he said that huge reserves of gas were known to exist in the Middle East, Qatar and Iran, in close proximity to Pakistan. As a country, however, Russia held the largest reserves and produced the most gas.
He pointed out the serious imbalance in Pakistan’s energy mix, highlighting a major dependence on gas at over 50 per cent today, compared to 43 per cent five years ago. He stated that this would continue to be the case in the foreseeable future. The energy mix in developed markets like the UK, USA and Canada, he said, was much more balanced. That was why, he stated, the government was so keen to utilize coal as well as nuclear and other fuel options.
Explaining the objectives of SSGC’s LNG import project, he stated that a strategic alternative import channel for gas was essential for providing energy security at the right prices i.e. lower than HSFO and in volumes that could meet market needs. He said at least 300 mmcfd natural gas was required to meet the growing needs of IPPs, KESC, Wapda and new industrial projects such as steel mills, textile city, cement and fertilizer plants in Karachi alone.
He emphasized that the proposed regional pipeline projects linked with Qatar, Iran and Turkmenistan were an essential component of Pakistan’s long-term energy plan, but LNG was indispensable for meeting the short- to medium-term needs of the country.