Pakistan’s indigenous gas reserves are projected to reduce to half of current production by fiscal year 2026-27, said Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) in its report.

“Replacement for indigenous gas is imported RLNG, which is getting expensive by the day whereas under current scenarios availability of RLNG is also a challenge,” SSGC noted.

The gas supply company said a declining production of natural gas obligates dependence on import channels, which is hindered by steep increase in LNG price. “The scenario calls for prudent utilisation of available gas volumes,” it added.

The company said a cheaper alternative to natural gas is synthetic gas produced from the gasification of Thar Coal.

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Thar holds the world’s 7th largest coal reserves at 175 billion tons which is sufficient to generate 100,000 MW of electricity for over 200 years, said SSGC.

“SSGC Alternate ENERGY (AE) has been encouraging local and foreign firms to establish coal to gas (C2G) plants through the execution of multiple MoUs,” it said.

“For coal gasification plant producing 100 MMSCFD of SNG, $2 billion is required as capex,” said the company in its report.

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SSGC noted that with a substantial potential of biogas production in Pakistan (+200 MMSCFD), the country can reduce RLNG imports via utilizing untapped renewable energy sources like animal dung, municipal solid waste, energy crops, slaughterhouse waste etc.

“Even at the starting potential of 10 MMSCFD, commercial-scale bio-gas has the potential to replace LNG imports of $40 – 48 million per annum,” SSGC added.