To deal with the energy crisis that has been going on for more or less two decades, Pakistan has started plans to get natural gas from Turkmenistan and Iran through a pipeline, which should have been completed by now.  Both have been delayed for a long time due to tension. If they were completed in time, not only gas would be available 24 hours a day, but domestic and foreign industrial production and commercial activities would continue without interruption.  Pakistan has approved the completion of the Iran project in two phases. In the first phase, an 81 km long pipeline will be laid from the Iranian border to Gwadar.  If the US does not impose any restrictions, it will be extended from Gwadar to Nawabshah. While if the ban is maintained, Pakistan will have a reasonable justification to abandon the project.

In this way, it will avoid a fine of 18 billion dollars and the proceedings of the International Court of Arbitration. It should be clear that Iran has extended the deadline of 180 days to September 2024 to Pakistan to complete the project, otherwise it will take legal action.  It is commendable that Iran has also offered its legal and technical expertise to Pakistan under which Iran will provide practical assistance in the completion of the project.  America should realize the ground realities related to Pakistan's energy crisis, that in these conditions, the population of 25 crores is facing various problems, most of whom do not even have the ability to use alternative sources of fuel. Meanwhile, significant progress has been made regarding the discovery of oil and gas in the country. A new deposit has been found in Khairpur district of Sindh.  According to the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), Kharovel One has been drilled up to 3762 meters, from which it is estimated to yield 1.4 million cubic feet of gas per day and 93 barrels of crude oil per day. will also be obtained.  Earlier, vast oil and gas reserves were discovered in Tando Allahyar district.  A few days ago, there was good news of getting 64 lakh cubic feet of gas per day in Kohlu district of Balochistan.

The discovery of new reserves is encouraging in the scenario that our gas reserves are rapidly depleting.  The gas crisis that has been going on for more or less ten years seems to be worsening rapidly in recent times. There is a big difference in supply and demand.  Due to shortage of gas, billions of dollars are being spent on importing LNG. The discovery of gas and oil from different areas of the country is a big success and it will reduce the import bill considerably, but it is still less than the country's needs.  Thar Coal also has high hopes in this regard but it will take time to achieve remarkable results.  However, both the country's needs and the economy demand that more attention be paid to domestic oil and gas exploration. Energy plays a major role in the country's economy. Everything has become more expensive due to the rise in oil, gas and electricity prices.  In such a situation, like developed countries, Pakistan will also have to utilize its natural resources. Nature has enriched us with oil, gas, gold, copper and other precious metals, the real need is to use these precious treasures wisely. As far as Thar Coal is concerned, it the game-changer power project of Sindh. With the huge and abnormal increase in prices of electricity which came into effect in recent months, it has become definite that the situation is becoming dire for the majority of the electricity consumers, who are going to be impacted badly by this substantial rise.

On the one hand, the power resources are shrinking while at the same time the demand for power utilitis is on the rise. Power tariff has already reached a high level per unit as not only basic power tariff has been increased per unit, and now, further per unit increase will be added to it. The government announced the jacking up of power prices because it had to meet the IMF conditionality which were to be met with for securing the IMF grant without which the country would be unable to pay back the international loan installments due this year. It may be mentioned her that there is already a high tax rate on the electricity bills at around 22pc and after the addition of this tax rate, the power prices will be further up the per-unit cost, which means that practically, the domestic consumers will have to pay high prices per unit which is catastrophic in nature, and can result in social anarchy as it will badly impact the middle and lower middle class.  Same is the case with the gas prices, which are also on the high side. In this back drop, the search and shifting to alternative power resources which are indigenous in nature, is a welcome augury.

Thar Coal Project is one such plan to switch over to cheap and individual sources of energy and it must be commended and utilized in real sense of the word as it can prove to a be game-changer for the uplift of the country which is reeling under extreme shortage of power resources.  Last year, the then Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated  the commercial operations of Phase-II of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) at Thar Coal Project and one would commend it as it is aimed at cheaper and low cost generation which is need of the hour. According to financial experts, the Thar Coal Project is something that be reckon with as it can definitely help the nation save up to  huge $6 billion as our import bill is going out of proportion and the spending on the petrol and  other POL products, had reached $24bn which is a big burden on the national exchequor. The ex PM Shahbaz also announced his plans regarding holding a detailed meeting of stakeholders on Thar coal mines  in coming week to shed light on the modalities and future formalities. In fact time has come that both the federal government, in collaboration with the Sindh government, should devise a joint policy framework on the Thar coal mines project so that this game-changer project can benefit the entire country and for that the main objective should be to connect it with other coal-powered plants across the country. Meanwhile, one would also commend the Sindh government for providing special attention to Thar Coal project which is part of provincial government public-private partnership projects.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 23 2024

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.