Pakistan to import gas from Azerbaijan
Pakistan has been working very hard to find natural gas, but thus far without results. Given the market’s supply limitations, the nation is looking at all options, including importing it from Azerbaijan. The cargoes’ size, meanwhile, might not be sufficient to make a significant difference.
Pakistan will buy 20,000 tonnes of gas from Azerbaijan over the next two months to satisfy domestic demand, according to Musadik Malik, State Minister for Petroleum of Pakistan.
This might not seem like a significant development for the energy industry, but it isn’t. The average LNG cargo size that Pakistan receives is roughly 60,000 tonnes, and we import 10 cargoes per month, for a total of 600,000 tonnes. That is a drop in the ocean compared to what Azerbaijan may acquire in the upcoming months.
Musadik Malik claims that in addition to talks with Azerbaijan, the administration is engaged in work on the TAPI gas pipeline project. After this project is finished, Pakistan would need to import 1300 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas annually to make up for its gas shortage.
According to him, “Our gas resources are depleting annually, adding to the pressure to import as much gas as possible to meet the demand.” It is no secret that the misallocation of gas and inefficiencies in the transmission and distribution networks have led to a very rapid decline in domestic gas reserves.
However, it would take years to create the TAPI infrastructure required to make these imports possible, and Pakistan might not have that much time to wait. For this reason, the nation has also approached Azerbaijan, which is rich in gas and oil, for future gas shipments; this could be seen as a stopgap remedy, but it is still important.
It may be a ray for hope for people as Pakistan to import gas from Azerbaijan
