Energy Profile of Pakistan

 The Government of Pakistan has unveiled a number of initiatives to facilitate the public’s access to energy, spur economic expansion, and find a solution to the energy issue. The initiatives include:

• The National Power Policy 2013

The policy aimed to develop a power production, transmission, and distribution system that was effective and could fulfill the requirements of the populace while boosting the economy of the nation in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

• Power Generation Policy 2015

The fundamental goal of the policy was to have enough cheapest available power production capacity while emphasizing the use of domestic resources, enabling all parties engaged in the trade, and protecting the environment.

• Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy 2019

The major objective of the 2019 policy was to encourage and support the nation’s development of renewable resources.

To satisfy the nation’s needs, Pakistan produces a very small fraction of its total oil output. The production of domestic oil is restricted by technical, budgetary, and technological limitations. According to the most recent figures, the cost of oil imports surged from July through April of FY2022 from US$8.69 billion to US$17.03 billion, a 95.9% rise.

Oil is becoming more costly due to rising global oil prices and the severe devaluation of the Pakistani rupee, which is putting pressure on the country’s external sector and worsening its trade imbalance. Similarly, between July and April of FY2022, imports of LNG (liquefied natural gas) increased by 82.90% in value, while imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) increased by 39.86%.

Pakistan is also using nuclear technology to produce electricity, and its share is rapidly growing. During the period of July–March FY2022, the gross capacity of nuclear power plants rose by 39% to 3,530 MW, delivering 12,885 million units of energy to the national grid.

If we see the consumption of electricity by different sectors throughout Pakistan, it is divided into various areas like domestic, commercial, industry, etc.

 As of right now, the world is facing a shortage of energy and it has sent shock waves from Europe to Asia. And Pakistan is no exception. The energy industry in Pakistan is in crisis, due to a lack of energy output to keep up with the country’s rising demand during the past few decades. Pakistan is now reliant on imported energy resources like gas and oil.

The Asian Development Bank published a white paper in 2019 claiming that Pakistan is an energy-insecure country. Besides Pakistan, there are numerous countries worldwide including the developed ones that are also energy insecure. There are several examples of market growth followed by a downturn and severe contraction since the energy industry is, by nature, in a loop. But the current crises are different in several aspects.

The recent increase in energy costs has given us a glimpse into the future, where market disruptions might result if the transition to low-carbon energy sources is not adequately managed or stressed. According to Shazia Anwar Cheema, Pakistan might face an extremely challenging and disastrous winter as a result of the lack of long-term energy management strategies by policymakers.

The crisis is likely to worsen due to the Middle Eastern countries, which serve as the major source of imports, being severely impacted by the strain that Europe is experiencing as a result of the fuel and gas shortfall. The current bleak situation shows that the power shortfall at the moment is about 7,500 megawatts which subsequently results in 10-18 hours of load-shedding. This means the current supply is about 18,000 megawatts and the required supply is 25,000-25,500MW. Furthermore, Pakistan’s energy cost doubled in the last 9 months; it now stands at 15 billion USD.

U.S. oil and gas production continued to trend higher through April – a delayed response to very high prices in the middle of 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But the fall in prices and drilling rates since late 2022 is set to reduce output in the second half of 2023 and tighten markets for both oil and gas later this year and into 2024.

Crude and condensates production from the Lower 48 states excluding federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico increased by 37,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May compared with April.

Production increased by 986,000 bpd (+10%) compared with the same month a year earlier, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Lower 48 production was running at the second-fastest rate on record and only 70,000 bpd below the previous peak of 10.52 million bpd in November and December 2019.

Experience shows U.S. production responds to a change in prices with an average lag of around 12 months, so near-record output in April 2023 reflects very high prices in the second quarter of 2022.

Obama is Confident

Admiral Allen yesterday told reporters a cap on the damaged oil well is keeping up to 462,000 gallons of oil a day from leaking into the Gulf. That's up from about 441,000 gallons on Saturday and about 250,000 on Friday.

BP in a statement put the amount being captured at 466,200 gallons. Admiral Allen said the government was using its own flow-rate calculations and not relying on those from BP.
"This will be contained," Mr. Obama asserted. "It may take some time, and it's going to take a whole lot of effort. There is going to be damage done to the Gulf Coast, and there is going to be economic damages that we've got to make sure BP is responsible for and compensates people for."
Mr. Obama said that government scientists and other experts confirmed that the capping device "is beginning to capture some of the oil. We are still trying to make a better determination as to how much it is capturing."
But, he added, "even if we are successful in containing some or much of the oil" the problem wouldn't be solved until relief wells reach the area of the damaged well in several months.
"What is clear is that the economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial and it is going to be ongoing," he said.
"We also know that there's already a lot of oil that's been released and that there's going to be more oil released no matter how successful this containment effort is," he added.
He reiterated an appeal he made on Friday in the region that BP not "nickel and dime" Gulf coast residents and businesses that have filed claims against the London-based oil giant.
"'We are going to insist that money flow quickly and in a timely basis," Mr. Obama said.
Admiral Allen acknowledged at yesterday's White House briefing that the company has struggled with handling claims. He said we'd "like them to get better" at processing the claims and that a system for paying them should be "routinized" as soon as possible.

Govt. wasnt trained for this

A Coast Guard official said that the BP spill has broken up into something the government had not trained for: numerous tiny spills, which are still outflanking cleanup crews across hundreds of miles of coastline.
President Obama said yesterday he's been talking closely to Gulf Coast fishermen and various experts on BP's catastrophic oil spill not for lofty academic reasons but "so I know whose ass to kick."

The salty words, part of Mr. Obama's recent efforts to telegraph to Americans his engagement with the crisis, came in an interview in Michigan with NBC's Today show.
He strongly defended his role in dealing with the crisis that began with the April 20 explosion on a BP-leased oil rig in the Gulf, killing 11 workers and starting the nation's largest-ever oil spill.
"I was down there a month ago before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the gulf," he told NBC's Matt Lauer. "I was meeting with fishermen in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be."
NBC aired a portion of the interview yesterday evening in advance of today's Today program.
Some have criticized the President for not engaging passionately enough on the spill.
Earlier yesterday, he sought to reassure the nation that the Gulf Coast would "bounce back" from the worst oil spill in the nation's history, but not without time, effort, and reimbursement from BP.
Surrounded by Cabinet members, he said that not only is he confident the crisis will pass but also that the affected area "comes back even stronger than ever."
He and top federal officials were briefed on the government's battle against the spill by Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is overseeing the government's efforts in dealing with the tragedy.

The cap over Spill is capturing oil!!!!!

Forty-nine days later, the Gulf of Mexico got a bit of good news.

Yesterday, U.S. officials said that a "cap" installed over a leaking oil pipe was capturing more than 460,000 gallons (or 11,000 barrels) of oil per day. Instead of spilling into the Gulf, the oil was being funneled up through pipe to a ship on the surface.
The spill isn't over: Large amounts of oil - nobody knows how much - still billow out of vents in the cap. But for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, humans seemed to be partly in control of the leaking BP well, instead of the other way around.
"We only define success as when we actually get the oil plugged ... and we return people's lives back to normal," said Kent Wells, a senior vice president at BP. "But this is an encouraging step."
On the same day, there were signs of how much trouble remains.

Answer to Protection Plan??

So far, no oil is in Weeks Bay or either river, but the slick hasn't gotten to the barrier yet. If and when it does, Hinton and the mayor will make the decision to close the bay and block off access to the Magnolia River.
"We can shut it down in three hours," Hinton said.
Why did it take so long for Hinton to get an answer about the protection plan?
Scott Hughes, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, said the delay sounded like an issue for the unified command in Mobile to address. The head of the command, Coast Guard Capt. Steve Poulin, said it sounded like an issue related to the state's approval process.
Hixon, Hinton's buddy, said the whole system is broken.
"This is the biggest damn mess I've ever seen," he said.
Patricia Sevening, a member of the Magnolia Springs Garden Club who lives on a canal off the Fish River, is just happy someone is protecting her water.
"It's such a beautiful area," said Sevening, watching as boom and barges were moved into place. "This is really frightening, what it could do for generations."