Over the last decade, natural gas usage has skyrocketed in Pakistan. From a consumption of about 23.4 billion cubic metres in 2001, it increased to about 38.41 billion cubic metres in 2009. The extraction rate of our country, around 840 billion cubic metres, is so high that if we continue at this rate, our reserves will run out in twenty years. For all those people who are out on the streets protesting against the non-availability of gas for various purposes, this is the time to stop and ponder. We might not have any left very soon.
Natural gas is primarily used in households, industry and automobiles in Pakistan. When natural gas was first extracted, its primary purpose was seen as supplying the household. With electricity a scarce resource from the beginning, the government promoted gas-based stoves so as to lessen the burden on electricity consumption. Similarly, knowing that electric heaters use a lot of electricity, low cost and efficient gas-based heaters became the mainstay of Pakistani winters. The result, which was part of a pragmatic policy of making good use of a locally-available cheap resource, was that natural gas became an indispensible part of a large proportion of Pakistani households. Surplus natural gas was then provided to industry so that some industries might supplement their expensive petroleum bills with cheaper natural gas. Similarly, with the advent of compressed natural gas (CNG), people began to use this cheaper alternative to the more expensive petrol in automobiles.
However, in all this expansion of the use of natural gas, what was forgotten was that natural gas is a finite resource and our speed of consumption is fast outrunning our extraction ability. With gas being harder to import (remember the now failed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline or the several still-born projects to get gas from Central Asia?), it was only a matter of time before our consumption needs far outstripped our extraction.
Over the last couple of years, the scarcity of gas has become so acute that there are outages for over half a day in industrial and household units. In addition, CNG stations in most of the country have to take a couple of day’s holiday so as to ration the fuel.
Therefore, we must take further strong immediate measures to rationalise natural gas usage in the country. First, we must stop the supply of gas to industries which have alternative fuel systems. For example, all over the world, the cement industry uses cheap coal for production and it is only in Pakistan that even during acute shortages, the cement industry is supplied such a luxury.
If the cement industry in India can run on coal, without a hint of natural gas, we can have that too. Secondly, we must stop the fitting in of CNG kits in new automobiles. CNG might be cheaper, but with petrol available (and easily importable), we cannot use this scarce resource in this way any longer. It might be better for people to think how they can economise their petrol usage so as to bring down costs. Thirdly, we must prioritise gas provision to households over all other uses. With electricity already scarce we do not have an alternative to gas-based stoves in Pakistan at the moment. Unless we want to burn wood again, which is also not sustainable, we have to give priority to uninterrupted supply of gas to households, over and above both industry and automobiles, both of which have easily supplied alternatives. Yes, this might mean the closing of CNG stations in Pakistan, but so be it.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2012.
COMMENTS (11)
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Wrong conclusion. Gas has to be diverted to the power sector in the medium term or else susbidies will cause that sector to collapse. Longer term, power generation does need to move to coal, but without a short to medium term priority on gas this cannot and will not happen. The reason is simply that the power sector cannot create the financial resources required to make the shift to coal unless it is made profitable and stable first. This is only possible if the cost of generation is reduced dramatically from the currently unsustainable level created by over-reliance on imported furnace oil. Households should be moving to greater use of renewables such as solar for things like water heating (a huge an inefficient use of scarce gas). To drive this change, the pricing of gas needs to reflect its scarcity. The author needs to rethink his argument....
I think the author has it correct - unfortunately the cost of changing your energy source for the industrial base is enormous and something that may take yrs even if you had the money. Speaking of money -- where is Pakistan going to get the capital to make this happen? When push comes to shove it's money that is the prime issue not scarcity of fuel -- the World has plenty of gas, oil, coal readily available - all you need is money.
I like to add to discussion that CNG is not good fuel for running Cars, it damages the Car Engines over certain time, it lacks hydrocarbon & lubrication that helps a engine run smoothly. Yes it is cheap that’s why most people prefer it over Petrol & Diesel but infect you are damaging your car in longer run.
Some facts that you missed: Our gas geysers are the most inefficient in the world with an efficiency rating of 5 to 10 percent which means that they convert only 5 to 10 percent of gas into hot water while the rest is wasted. Our industrial processes are even less efficient with some having an efficiency rating of 3 percent. Compare this to geysers used in the USA that are close to 90 percent efficient. Instant water heaters are even more efficient. To design and make gas efficient appliances and plants, you need 'dynamic' engineers, unfortunately the quality of our trained engineers is below average.
A good and well thought out article. I believe Natural Gas should be used only for domestic purposes. The industry should run on furnace oil and the vehicles should run on petrol and diesel. If at all, only selected public transport should be allowed the usage of CNG.
Great piece. Gas should be prioritized for domestic users. Urea industry , which can't function without gas should be given priority after domestic users. Textile industry , always crying for government help, should switch to furnace oil or coal gasification to run their industry. And these CNG stations should be shut down ASAP.
I agree with the writer....GAS...is a "natural resource" which means that it is very much finite, as a favor to generations that would come after us we need to conserve it. Gas should be used for making electricity and not fueling cars....CNG, although a cheap resource for now...is an absolute waste of something as precious as gas! I hope the government wakes up soon and provides economically feasible and good quality public transportation....but until that happens, the least we can do is to have lesser number of cars on the roads with more people in them. It is painful to watch drivers moving around in empty cars dropping a single kid to school....
Couple of points:
1- I think needs to invest in the exploration department because of the reserve depletion, you have to come up with new reserves. I bet there are lot of structures with hydrocarbon potential or do seismic surveys to identify potential structures.
2- You have to define your natural gas mix, how much of the percentage of the natural gas would be consumed by which sector and you have to keep that consumption within the defined percentage.
3- TAPI or IPP - you have to come up with the alternate solution.
Hear hear shut down the CNG pumps. The cost of petrol is not that much more than CNG and certainly not worth making people starve and harm industry that has to use natural gas as a resource. When industry shuts down, people lose jobs and a source of income on top of no gas to cook.
Very nicely written. However - with no public transport systems in our metros, the public has the right to demand a subsidy on petrol or an alternate, cheaper fuel. Before we ask more from the common man - the government has to show its dedication towards the task of saving our resources. When the prime minister and generals roam around in fleets of dozens, its a bit unfair to ask the man on the street to carpool or catch a bus.