DURING a media interaction on Wednesday, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadiq Malik said natural gas cannot be supplied round the clock due to its depleting reserves which is 10 per cent every year. He said we have only 1,600 mmcfd of gas left for the entire country while the demand is on the rise.
One has been hearing this for a long time but it is really unfortunate that nothing concrete is being done on the ground to address the situation as a result of which problems of both domestic and industrial consumers are multiplying with each passing year. It was promised that there will be no gas load shedding during Sehr and Iftar but the stoves remain off during these times too. There is a great resentment amongst the public and it is really time that the government officials pay special attention to address the gas shortage instead of serving merely as a post office. It was during the last era of the PML-N that some serious steps were taken by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the then Minister, to cope with the gas shortage. For this purpose, an agreement was signed with Qatar whilst LNG terminals were also introduced. Ever since then, it appears a reverse gear has been made, the brunt of which is being borne as a whole by the country. The gas shortage is badly affecting the production of industries which is also hitting our exports and rendering many people jobless. In this whole backdrop, the government must move quickly to meet the domestic demand. For this purpose, it needs to fast track the process of purchasing cheap gas from Russia as well as from other sources. The gas pipeline from Iran has the potential to significantly improve the situation and meet our domestic demand. Simultaneously, efforts should be accelerated to explore oil and gas. We have no doubt in saying that the country still has abundant of indigenous resources lying unutilized and these needs to be brought to use with sincerity of purpose to put the country on the upward growth trajectory.
