Pakistan’s reliance on crude oil has become conspicuous as oil import bill has reached to $ 13 billion which is a huge burden on the economy. Well informed sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told Online that to end reliance on the import of crude oil and petroleum products, the government was pursuing the policy 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.
Sources told 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 capitalise 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.
Sources further told that 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.
ABU DHABI BEGINS EXPORTING OIL VIA PIPELINE: The emirate of Abu Dhabi has shipped fuel to a refinery in Pakistan, marking the official inauguration of the pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg has reported.
The Habshan-Fujairah pipeline was loading the first shipment of 500,000 barrels to the Pakistani plant, said UAE oil minister, Mohamed Bin Dhaen Al-Hamli, at a ceremony to inaugurate the network.
The 423km link was built by International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) at a total cost of $4.2b, Khadem Al-Qubaisi, managing director of the Abu Dhabi-run IPIC fund, said at the ceremony in Fujairah.
Oil doesn’t quite fit the bill
