Seminar on Pakistan's energy sector: setting up of single energy ministry suggested

A single energy ministry should be established by merging Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources into Water and Power Ministry for better policy co-ordination and taking the sector out of lingering financial crisis. This was stated by Former Petroleum Minister Usman Aminuddin while addressing a seminar on 'Pakistan's Energy Sector: Challenges and Prospects,' organised by Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad here on Thursday.
He also suggested abolition of Alternative Energy Development Board that has been unable to deliver at critical juncture. "Pakistan has coal reserves in Thar equivalent to 400 billion barrels of oil, but we have not even started scratching the surface," he said adding that rights of provinces over minerals be guaranteed to make best possible use of the precious natural resource.
"Through regional energy co-operation many countries of the world have achieved energy security," he opined, adding that Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project is most feasible option, but apprehended that Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (TAPI) gas pipeline is economically, technically and politically not a feasible project, citing that gas reserves of the Daulatabad gas field (Turkmenistan) are yet to be properly assessed.
He said that ensuring energy efficiency through legislation, exploration, development of alternative energy sources and centralising energy under one source is the panacea of Pakistan's energy challenges. Former minister also advocated enhancing co-operation with other countries of the region for long-term energy needs.
He stated that Pakistan was a resource-rich country and had a huge potential to meet the current challenges in the energy sector provided those who are at the helm of affairs would adopt the right policies. Talking about the world scenario, as Pakistan is heavily dependent on imported energy, he noted that the world reserves were depleting fast and there was a need to identify and exploit the alternative energy sources.
"The daily demand world-wide is about 86.5 million barrel per day with overall supply of 91 million barrel" and oil imbalance is likely in the world economy. He also projected that oil prices will touch the 200 dollars a barrel mark in near future in the global market.
Aminuddin observed that the world was seeing the energy imperialism, adding, "With oil prices high and possibly climbing higher, and many western oil fields in decline, western firms and governments are working together to stake out new territories to reduce dependence on the Middle East."
Chairman IPs Professor Khurshid Ahmad, while chairing the session, argued that the failure of leadership primarily caused the current economic crises. He, however, opined that while the national economy was at the brink of collapse, Pakistan had the potential to address effectively the current issues in the energy sector. "Pakistan is not a poor country and has plenty of sources which could be exploited for bringing out the country from the morass without resorting to foreign assistance," he maintained.