A rocket attack last week on Sui gas installations and pipeline disrupted energy supplies to power plants, fertilizer companies and other industrial concerns.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) which supplies gas to Punjab and NWFP reportedly asked all the industrial units including captive power producers in Punjab and NWFP provinces, who have nine months supply contracts with the company, to make alternate fuel arrangements.

Under the circumstances, SNGPL had no option but to resort to curtailment of gas to cement, power generation, fertilizer and partially to other industrial units. Captive power units, which also fall in the category of Power Plants were adversely hit by the gas shortage.

These units are supplied gas by SNGPL under a mutually signed contract, in which it has been made aptly clear that supply of gas to these units is to be made only for nine months in a year on 'as and when available' basis.

Gas supplies to all captive power units on SNGPL's network including those in Punjab, were halted due to the prevailing situation in Sui. Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), which supplies natural gas to the southern province of Sindh and Balochistan stopped supplies to five major industrial units.

These were the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Pakistan Steel, Wapda and the Coastal Power Plant. It was a severe jolt to the national economy.

Sui gas field is the single largest source of energy supply for different industries, power generation, agriculture, commerce and household use in the country. Gas from Sui is also used for the manufacture of fertilizer and other chemicals.

The quantum of natural gas production from Sui gas field is a vital source of huge foreign exchange savings as the same would have been spent on the import of energy had the gas reserves in abundance not been discovered.

However, the problem arises from the fact that Balochistan has been deprived of its due share in terms of royalty, gas use and economic benefits. And the genesis of the present crisis is political.

The issue needs to be resolved politically not only to ensure uninterrupted supply of energy but to facilitate exploration and exploitation of new oil and gas reserves in the province.

The country needs more natural gas to feed new power plants to meet a potential energy shortfall by 2007 when it will need at least an additional 1,000 mw of power.

This shortfall is expected to increase to 5,000 MW by 2012. Potential investors are unable to proceed with gas-fired power plants due to uncertainty of natural gas availability.

Pakistan Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association (PPEPCA) has asked the Federal government to open its Balochistan province for exploration to overcome a potential energy shortage.

The province is rich in oil and gas resources. Geological surveys have reported reserves of billions of cubic feet of gas and billions of barrels of oil during offshore exploration in Balochistan.

Balochistan produces more than 40 percent of the primary energy of the country in the form of natural gas, coal and electricity. In 1952, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) discovered a huge natural gas field at Sui in Bugti tribal area.

Pakistan energy scene necessitates the removal of all impediments and irritants in the way of oil and gas exploration. The energy potential of the country may be tapped by granting maximum exploration licenses to foreign oil and gas exploration companies.

The security environment in Balochistan is discouraging for attracting foreign investment in the oil and gas exploration sector. It also call into question the guarantees of security for a proposed multi-billion dollar gas pipeline from Iran to India that would have to run through Balochistan. India has voiced its concern about the security of the pipeline traversing Balochistan.

Undeniably, the security and economy are inter-linked. Long-term security objectives are associated with political stability and social harmony. Deployment of security forces, establishment of cantonments and military operation are not the strategies to create a stable security environment.

Balochistan has turned out to be a mega-sensitive province due to the discriminatory attitude meted out with it for the last five decades. It is time for political reconciliation which would ensure security for sustaining the ongoing development process.