ISLAMABAD:
A former general manager of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said on Thursday that the government should strengthen its economic ties with Iran and complete the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project as soon as possible.
Talking to a news channel, Brig (r) Agha Gul said that Gomal Zam Dam and Muzaffarabad Hydro Power Project would be completed with the financial help of the United States, adding that these projects would meet the local energy needs.
He termed the 2700-km long gas pipeline project ‘a lifeline for Pakistan’.
He said that the dream of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline could be realised only after the restoration of peace in Afghanistan.
He said that the United States could help Pakistan in launching solar and wind energy projects.
PPP Sindh Information Secretary Latif Mughal also expressed the hope that the United States would help Pakistan meet energy needs, as the energy crisis was hindering economic development of the country.
He said that the energy crisis was creating unemployment, which was one of the causes of fundamentalism in society. He asked the United States to strike a deal with Pakistan for civil-nuclear cooperation for power generation in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2011.
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Why are we looking around for gas? Thar Coal fields have over 20 TFC recoverable Coal Bed Methane (CBM) according to USGS and in March 2007 a Canadian company had signed a CBM exploration and production agreement with Sindh Government. This company expected to work on recovering 3 to 5 TFC of CBM, which could be easily added to the national grid or used in gas to liquids but thanks to our bureaucrats this project has been side lined. No international donor will fund Thar because private equity is available for this energy project and we are ignoring the good opportunity. By the way CBM production process will also provide Thar with over 50 millions gallons of water every day. The same Canadian group was engaged by USGS in Afghanistan and guess what they found! The largest lithium deposit, substantial gold and copper deposits and 1.3 billion barrels of OIL. Starting from October 2011 international tenders will be floated while we look around for hand outs.