Govt seeks partnership with foreign energy firms

State minister highlights potential of LNG partnership with Oman

KARACHI: With economic growth anticipated to be more than 6% in the coming year, Pakistan has significant energy consumption, which is creating opportunities for new investors, said Minister of State for Petroleum Division Jam Kamal Khan.

Speaking at a ministerial session at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference 2017, one of the world’s biggest energy events, Khan said Pakistan had already built robust infrastructure which included the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal completed in a record time of 335 days at Port Qasim.

“Second terminal will also start operating soon and more will be built in the future,” said the minister.



The session on the second day of the conference was titled “Ministerial Panel: Creating Energy Opportunity through Foresight, Vision, Inspiration and Innovation” and featured energy ministers from the UAE, Oman and Egypt, besides Pakistan.

The minister emphasised that a lot needed to be done in the energy sector as gas and power demand had yet to be met. Highlighting Pakistan’s appetite to consume more energy, Khan suggested that the country needed to improve its upstream resources.

Inviting investors, he outlined Pakistan’s potential in hydrocarbon exploration and production as the country was looking to increase its refining capacity. He painted a positive picture of the oil and gas sector, saying Pakistan was looking for partnerships and there were “opportunities in exploration and production, refining and LNG”.

He talked about the importance of working with Egypt and Oman while emphasising the potential of LNG partnership with the latter.

Pakistan has a strong presence in the Abu Dhabi exhibition. Petroleum Institute of Pakistan has set up the country’s pavilion that features prominent companies like Pakistan State Oil, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Oil and Gas Development Company, Sui Southern Gas Company, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, Mari Petroleum, Inter State Gas Systems, Government Holdings Private Limited, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Development Company and Pakistan LNG Terminals Limited.



Speaking on the occasion, the UAE energy minister said Pakistan’s refining industry had a huge potential for growth and expansion and the UAE was all set to invest more in the sector. Renewable energy too had a huge growth potential in Pakistan, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2017.

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