In a bid to end reliance on the import of crude oil and petroleum products, the government is pursuing policies of attracting private investment in the energy sector during current financial year 2012-13.
Pakistan’s primary energy supplies heavily depend upon the imported crude oil and petroleum products due to which the country’s oil import bill is about $ 13 billion which is a huge burden on the economy.
According to Planning Commission, the government wants to replace the imported furnace and diesel oil with alternate fuels in a sustainable manner at competitive prices with a greater reliance on indigenous resources. Moreover, initiatives like import of piped gas, LNG and LPG as alternative fuels were taken.
The present energy scenario suggests that an affordable and sustainable energy road map for the country is essential to capitalize on the use of indigenous resources in country’s energy mix.
Development of indigenous energy resources such as coal, hydro and alternative/renewable sources is critical for country’s economic growth. According to Planning Commission, the energy sector debt was threatening the entire supply chain from oil refineries, oil marketing companies (OMCs) to power producers.
This problem needs to be resolved to ensure the survival of the power sector, attract investments and to enable the power sector to contribute towards the development of the economy. Capacity additions alone will not resolve the problem of load shedding; the supply of primary fuels need to be assured.
