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Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan
Floods play havoc with Pakistan power hopes
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider
Aug 25, 2010
KARACHI - Flood-hit Pakistan will face increasing shortages of natural gas and electricity, both in the short and the long term, with existing structures damaged and future supplies threatened.
The country, experiencing its worst-known flooding, will fall short of the 38.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas it was forecast to produce this year, as floods, which have submerged more than 7 million hectares of farmland, forced a halt to production at the nation's largest gas field at Qadirpur, Sindh province, and led to the closure of pipelines and processing plants.
The Qadirpur field accounts for about 40% of production by Oil & Gas Development Co, which is a quarter of the country's total
output. The disruption in gas supply will affect transport, fertilizer production and other sectors, except domestic consumers.
The stoppage at Qadirpur has increased the electricity deficit "by 1,500 megawatts a day", Bloomberg reported Minister for Power Raja Pervez Ashraf as saying.
The flooding has also delayed commissioning of some power projects that were nearing completion, according to Dawn newspaper. Six power stations of about 1,500MW are already off the national grid. Three projects under construction - Jinnah Hydro, Allai Khwar and Khan Khwar - have been inundated.
Pakistan was already facing an increase in energy shortages in the long term because of international sanctions against Iran and a contract dispute with a French energy supplier. A proposed US$7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, scheduled to be finished by 2014, will be delayed by at least four years because of trade sanctions against Iran imposed through the United Nations and United States, say analysts, even though construction on the Iran side of the border remains on pace for completion in 2011. The estimated cost of the Pakistan segment is $1.2 billion to be incurred over four years.
Meanwhile, a dispute over an agreement with Paris-based GDF Suez to supply liquefied natural gas from Qatar to supplement local gas supplies introduced delays in the project. The country's top court in April asked the government to restart the supply-contract process after questioning an agreement signed in February with GDF Suez.
"Pakistan is desperate as it faces huge power shortages," Bloomberg reported Alexis Aik, head of the global gas team at FACTS Global Energy
in Singapore, as saying. "It was looking to speed up liquefied natural gas imports, which are more viable than pipeline imports."
Disruption in the supply of natural gas and fuel oil because of flood damage to installations and transportation networks has resulted in a shortfall of more than 3,500 megawatts of electricity, leading to blackouts of up to seven hours in areas across the country.
Pakistan and Iran signed a contract in June under which Iran agreed to supply the equivalent of 29% of Pakistan's current consumption of natural gas. Washington, which has led a campaign against Iran because of concern over its nuclear ambitions, had already warned Pakistan that it should wait before conducting a survey or floating a tender for a contractor to start physical work on the pipeline.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline would traverse over 2,775 kilometers from Iran's South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf through the Pakistani city of Khuzdar in Balochistan, with one branch going on to Karachi and a second branch possibly extending to Multan and then on to India. Almost 665km of the pipeline will pass through Balochistan while about 115km of the pipeline will be laid in Sindh province.
Pakistani officials have projected a gas shortfall of 10.34 billion cubic feet per day by 2015. Local experts believe that remedying Pakistan's energy shortages over the next two decades will likely depend primarily on timely realization of the Iran gas pipeline and LNG imports.
Syed Fazl-e-Haider (Syed Fazl e Haider) is a development analyst in Pakistan. He is the author of many books, including The Economic Development of Balochistan (2004). He can be contacted at sfazlehaider05@yahoo.com.
Floods play havoc with Pakistan power hopes
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider
Aug 25, 2010
KARACHI - Flood-hit Pakistan will face increasing shortages of natural gas and electricity, both in the short and the long term, with existing structures damaged and future supplies threatened.
The country, experiencing its worst-known flooding, will fall short of the 38.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas it was forecast to produce this year, as floods, which have submerged more than 7 million hectares of farmland, forced a halt to production at the nation's largest gas field at Qadirpur, Sindh province, and led to the closure of pipelines and processing plants.
The Qadirpur field accounts for about 40% of production by Oil & Gas Development Co, which is a quarter of the country's total
output. The disruption in gas supply will affect transport, fertilizer production and other sectors, except domestic consumers.
The stoppage at Qadirpur has increased the electricity deficit "by 1,500 megawatts a day", Bloomberg reported Minister for Power Raja Pervez Ashraf as saying.
The flooding has also delayed commissioning of some power projects that were nearing completion, according to Dawn newspaper. Six power stations of about 1,500MW are already off the national grid. Three projects under construction - Jinnah Hydro, Allai Khwar and Khan Khwar - have been inundated.
Pakistan was already facing an increase in energy shortages in the long term because of international sanctions against Iran and a contract dispute with a French energy supplier. A proposed US$7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, scheduled to be finished by 2014, will be delayed by at least four years because of trade sanctions against Iran imposed through the United Nations and United States, say analysts, even though construction on the Iran side of the border remains on pace for completion in 2011. The estimated cost of the Pakistan segment is $1.2 billion to be incurred over four years.
Meanwhile, a dispute over an agreement with Paris-based GDF Suez to supply liquefied natural gas from Qatar to supplement local gas supplies introduced delays in the project. The country's top court in April asked the government to restart the supply-contract process after questioning an agreement signed in February with GDF Suez.
"Pakistan is desperate as it faces huge power shortages," Bloomberg reported Alexis Aik, head of the global gas team at FACTS Global Energy
in Singapore, as saying. "It was looking to speed up liquefied natural gas imports, which are more viable than pipeline imports."
Disruption in the supply of natural gas and fuel oil because of flood damage to installations and transportation networks has resulted in a shortfall of more than 3,500 megawatts of electricity, leading to blackouts of up to seven hours in areas across the country.
Pakistan and Iran signed a contract in June under which Iran agreed to supply the equivalent of 29% of Pakistan's current consumption of natural gas. Washington, which has led a campaign against Iran because of concern over its nuclear ambitions, had already warned Pakistan that it should wait before conducting a survey or floating a tender for a contractor to start physical work on the pipeline.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline would traverse over 2,775 kilometers from Iran's South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf through the Pakistani city of Khuzdar in Balochistan, with one branch going on to Karachi and a second branch possibly extending to Multan and then on to India. Almost 665km of the pipeline will pass through Balochistan while about 115km of the pipeline will be laid in Sindh province.
Pakistani officials have projected a gas shortfall of 10.34 billion cubic feet per day by 2015. Local experts believe that remedying Pakistan's energy shortages over the next two decades will likely depend primarily on timely realization of the Iran gas pipeline and LNG imports.
Syed Fazl-e-Haider (Syed Fazl e Haider) is a development analyst in Pakistan. He is the author of many books, including The Economic Development of Balochistan (2004). He can be contacted at sfazlehaider05@yahoo.com.
