Category: Pakistan

Pakistani motorists wait for their turn to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Islamabad on January 22, 2015 (Photo: AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images) The shortage of imported oil began some two weeks ago, with affected areas almost grinding to a halt. Across the country, many buses have been taken off the streets, and scuffles have broken out at gas stations where people wait in long queues for fuel. Although the situation has eased slightly, the crisis prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to pull out of last week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Pakistan has to deal with chronic power cuts, and tackling the energy issue was one of Sharif’s main campaign pledges ahead of the 2013 general election. The situation was recently exacerbated by an apparent rebel attack on a key power line which plunged around 80 percent of the South Asian country into darkness over the […]

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Towns and cities across Pakistan plunged into darkness early Sunday when what officials said was an attack by militants on a transmission line short-circuited the national electricity grid, presenting a new indictment of the government’s faltering efforts to solve the country’s chronic power crisis. Emergency efforts to end the blackout, widely described as Pakistan ’s worst ever, resulted in a partial restoration of power in the capital, Islamabad, and the most populous city, Karachi, by Sunday evening. Even so, 80 percent of the country remained without power, including the provincial capitals of Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, an official said. The minister for water and power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, blamed separatist rebels in the western province of Baluchistan who, he said, had blown up a critical transmission line. But experts said the attack only highlighted the growing vulnerability of Pakistan’s power grid, which has come under severe […]

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Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif canceled a trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as the nation’s worst fuel shortages in memory threatened to revive street protests against him. Since the crisis began last week, he’s suspended five officials, including Pakistan State Oil Co.’s deputy chief, and has sought hourly updates on the situation. The government has sold fuel from its reserves and private companies have boosted supplies as anger grows over long waits at petrol stations. The cash-strapped distributor’s move this month to reduce shipments by 80 percent left it unable to meet a surge in demand after the government cut gas prices to match lower global costs. The Finance Ministry has arranged emergency funding to import oil, Power Minister Khawaja Asif said in a Jan. 21 text message. The crisis is a test of Pakistan’s credibility in the eyes of overseas investors, whose fivefold […]

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PSO fuel imports declined 80 per cent, but ministry claims stocks will be enough. STOCK IMAGE ISLAMABAD:  In yet another sign of a lack of coordination within the government, the water and power ministry on Wednesday denied that there was a fuel shortage at power plants, claiming that power generation companies had 10 days’ worth of fuel inventory. A spokesperson for the ministry said that there was little possibility of the power crisis worsening, adding that the ministry was prepared to handle all contingencies. The statement from the water and power ministry appears to be a response to allegations leveled against them by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at his press conference on Monday. Dar had placed the responsibility for the recent petrol shortages squarely on the petroleum ministry and water and power ministry. The statement from the ministry also contradicts the account that Finance Secretary Waqar Masood gave in […]

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Politicians are arguing over the cause of the petrol shortages Related Stories Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has pulled out of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Switzerland to tackle nationwide fuel shortages. Petrol stations in most major cities closed temporarily last week, and drivers elsewhere face huge queues. Ministers blame a huge spike in demand for the shortage, but critics say it was caused by government incompetence. Mr Sharif held a crisis meeting earlier and promised to punish those causing the problems. It is the second year running that the prime minister has pulled out of the WEF in Davos. Last year he was forced to cancel the trip because of a Taliban attack. Opposition demonstrations Pakistan has faced intermittent fuel crises for years, and Mr Sharif promised during the 2013 election to resolve the issues. Opposition supporters say government incompetence is the real cause But last […]

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As motorists around the world enjoy the lowest fuel prices in five years thanks to surging production, Pakistanis are struggling to fill up their tanks. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is racing to tackle one of the nation’s worst fuel shortages in recent memory. Since the crisis began last week, he’s suspended five officials, including Pakistan State Oil Co.’s deputy chief, and has sought hourly updates on the situation. The cash-strapped distributor’s move this month to reduce shipments by 80 percent left it unable to meet a surge in demand after the government cut gas prices to match lower global costs. The Finance Ministry has arranged emergency funding to import oil, Power Minister Khawaja Asif said in a text message yesterday. The crisis is a test of Pakistan’s credibility in the eyes of overseas investors, whose fivefold increase in purchases of the nation’s shares resulted in Asia ’s second-highest […]

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Pipeline to Pakistan still in the cards for an Iranian government coping with sanctions targeting its energy sector. UPI/Shutterstock/Kodda "Pakistan has signed a deal to import 760 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Iran and by the beginning of 2015, it should start receiving this amount of gas according to agreement," Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. Once dubbed the Peace Pipeline, and including India as the terminal country, Iran has long held out its gas reserves as an opportunity for Eastern trading partners. Washington and its Western allies, however, have backed a rival project that would stretch from one of the world’s largest natural gas fields in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. For Pakistan, sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector meant it was time to reconsider the pipeline project. Government officials told Pakistani media outlets they were declaring force majeure on the pipeline , meaning it […]

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Pakistan implies it’s looking for exit door from gas project Iran once dubbed the Peace Pipeline. UPI/Hamid Forotan ISLAMABAD, Nov. 25 (UPI) — The Pakistani government has invoked force majeure on an agreement to build a cross-border gas pipeline with Iran, a ministry official said Tuesday. A senior official inside the Pakistani Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told the Pakistan Observer the government in Islamabad wanted to avoid litigation because of its decision to back away from a pipeline clouded by U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector. "We have stepped up our efforts to get the gas deal changed and are in touch with authorities concerned in Iran and hopeful to get to result oriented talks some time in next month to resolve the issue amicably," he said. Once dubbed the Peace Pipeline, Iran aims to establish a new natural gas route eastward with its cross-border pipeline to […]

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Islamabad agrees with Kabul to put renewed focus on multilateral natural gas pipeline. UPI/Hamid Forotan ISLAMABAD, Nov. 17 (UPI) — Islamabad thanks the leadership in Kabul for putting renewed emphasis behind a multilateral gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, the Pakistani prime minister said. Representatives from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan , Pakistan and India met last year in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to sign a transaction advisory services agreement. That cleared the way for the Asian Development Bank to look for a consortium to find the money needed to build the $7.8 billion pipeline. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Saturday with visiting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss regional energy and trade initiatives, including TAPI. "We reaffirmed our resolve to forge a robust economic partnership – by expanding trade, promoting investment, improving infrastructure, building road and rail links and enhancing energy collaboration," he said. Pakistan and India would each get 1.3 […]

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