Imported fuel mafia

A wake up call

Khawaja Asif, the Minister for both Water and Power and Defence, roared in the house that Pakistan was in the control of ‘oil mafia’. With an import bill of around $16b the stakes are very high. He blamed the ‘dons’ for opposing LNG and coal projects. However, his facts about coal based power generation were off. A few kilometers away from Jamshoro there are three coal fired plants of 50MW capacity each based on indigenous Lakhra coal. WAPDA has been unable to fully utilise these plants as the technology supplied by our Chinese friends is not compatible with the available local coal.

Despite setbacks Pakistan has survived because of its abundant gas reserves. The discovery at Sui in 1952 was a gift of the founding fathers of the country. A proper framework for pumping and then distribution of this natural resource was professionally developed. Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), a joint venture of a multinational company with the government of Pakistan, is responsible for pumping, purification and compressing of the gas which is then distributed by two state companies, SNGPL and SSGC. Today Pakistan has one of the finest gas networks in the world based mostly on our indigenous resources and knowhow.

In the nineties, during Benazir’s second term in office an attempt was made to sell off the gas deposits. President Farooq Lehgari, perhaps the most informed head of state ever, intervened. He wrote a lengthy letter to the infamous Secretary of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources of the time with serious reservations. I too wrote several articles but it seemed that the deal was done and was unstoppable. Finally, we approached the Balochistan High Court and were able to get a stay. In the dismissal summary of the government of his own party, both the attempted sale of PPL and kickback laden furnace oil based IPPs were mentioned.

There have been constant attempts to choke the fuel supply of the nation. First, it was PPP and now PML-N is trying to hook us on imported LNG and coal. No country can survive on imported fuel but somehow our tainted political leadership is bent upon exploiting our energy needs. An attempt was made to take away the gas resources.

By contrast when USA had to face an energy crunch in the seventies due to Zulfikar Ali Bhuttoo (ZAB)/King Faisal driven oil embargo, President Carter created the Department of Energy (DOE). It was decided that several indigenous energy options were to be developed that included: coal, geothermal, shale gas, solar, wind, nuclear, biogas, waste etc. Most technologies are now developed and available. USA has the world’s largest coal reserves (24%) with Pakistan being at number two (16.1%). Several clean coal technologies are now ready for use while shale gas is currently most viable. The country is no longer at the mercy of imported fuel and never will be.

Pakistan has several energy options. While dams do provide power and water, fuel is also required to keep the wheels turning. Khawaja Asif as Minister of Water and Power should focus on building dams as the water situation is getting serious. The country needs a department of energy to formulate its energy roadmap based on indigenous, not imported fuel; otherwise, it will be the proverbial out of the pan into the fire scenario.

Before installing any new coal fired power plants our friends from China should be tasked to make the Lakhra units work to its designed capacity (150MW). Only once they succeed there, additional plants should be allowed against extended performance warranties and reference checks. Chinese companies have a tendency to cut corners. There is a long list of marginal projects. From railway locomotives to Lakhra Power to Saindak Mining etc, the outcome has not been very favourable for Pakistan.

It is being projected that coal will constitute 30% of our energy basket by 2030 for which there must be a strategy and roadmap. A lot of commercial mining will be required (50M tons). Most coal fired power plants in the world are located at the mouth of the mine or at the port for ease of transportation. In Pakistan both these considerations have been overlooked. Up country plants like the one in Sahiwal will rely on Railway trains which do not exist and will seriously stretch the capability of transportation on the rails.

Use of natural gas discoveries remain painfully slow making room for import of LNG. There must be focused efforts to speed up the use of indigenous gas to reduce the current shortfall of 1300 MMCFD. Import of gas should only be a short term fix. Energy sovereignty and sustainability calls for utilisation of indigenous resources. Production of Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) from local coal should also be considered as an alternative to LNG to avoid mafia control.

Tight or shale gas is also a viable option. By some estimates there is a potential of around 33 TCF which should be enough to meet our needs for the next 20 to 30 years provided we manage it right. Starting from Kohat all along the Indus Basin the potential of this resource exists. As this is clean technology, international funding and collaboration is available.

Being an agriculture based country Pakistan has potential of both bio-fuels from seeds like jatropha and castor and also animal waste based biogas from digesters. Marginal lands like Cholistan and Thar can be used for development of bio-farms. Indian Railways have launched a programme for producing diesel from jatropha seeds to meet 20% of their needs. After expelling oil it is converted to diesel through a process called esterification. There have been several half-hearted attempts at producing bio-gas. The ‘Bhens (Buffalo) colony’ in Karachi has so much cow dung that it can be used to fuel a major portion of the city but instead it has become an environmental hazard which is threatening the mangrove forests.

The journey of Pakistan started with honesty of purpose, together with the nation building as the top priority. Despite teething problems a lot of ground was covered by the founding fathers. Sui gas was discovered in 1952 and then made commercially available in 1955. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) were all in place by mid-fifties. Constitution took longer but was ready by 1956. Then we lost our way. The nation building was replaced by empire building. It is time to reverse this trend. The nation is in need of mafia-free indigenous fuel for its energy sovereignty. There has to be a wake up call.