Advisor to the Ministry of Petroleum, Zahid Muzaffar Thursday said the impact of transnational deals with China, Turkmenistan, Iran and Qatar, will usher in a new era of development and prosperity in the country. Muzaffar who is also Chairman Board of Director of state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has invited local and international investors to come to Pakistan and seek ensuing opportunities.
He said this while addressing the 8th Pakistan Energy Forum 2016, organised by SHAMROCK Conferences International here. He said the government was working very hard to overcome energy crisis. Muzaffar added that successive governments since 1990s kept talking about Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline projects, but the present government has started implementing all these critical projects to end gas supply/demand gap and put the country on the path of economic growth.
He maintained that the government was not only working to implement imported gas projects, but has also sped up exploration of local oil/gas resources, adding that in 2015 OGDCL has started exploring shale oil/gas resources of the country which as compared with conventional natural resources is much expensive. The theme of the conference was "Impact of Large Scale Trans-National Ventures" highlighting the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor), TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan & India) Gas pipeline, IP-GAS (Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline) and the Pak-Qatar LNG deal, respectively. Dr Gulfaraz Ahmed, giving a review of the initiatives underlined the enormous economic benefit to the country and the major change in regional geo-political dynamics.
Claudio Raja Gabaglia Lins, Ambassador of Brazil in Pakistan highlighted the energy resources in his country and showed interest in Pakistan's energy prospects. Mirza Shakil Baig, Managing Director, Bakri Petroleum spoke on the challenges being faced by the new oil marketing companies and looked for convenience in operational issues. Asim Tirmizi, Project Director, Liquid Gases representing Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), highlighted how the company was moving steadily towards sustainable supplies to meet gas demand.
In the second session "An Integrated Approach to determine Pakistan's Energy Mix" Iftikhar Ahmed of Sindh Energy Department said the key objective of the province is to make Sindh self-sufficient and extend its success to the rest of country. Highlighting the potential of Balochistan as the next frontier for energy resources, Sardar Shaukat Popalzai said Balochistan was open to investment and development, He added, "all the major pipelines including Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan (IP) pass through Balochistan and with removal of sanctions on Iran, regional prospects are bright.
Iftikhar Randhawa, representing Secretary Energy, Government of the Punjab, gave a historical background of the country energy issues and discussed how Punjab had moved forward briskly in addressing energy problems; whereas, Mr Tariq Rasheed of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Oil & Gas Company opined, that the KP province has huge potentials for investors.
Inam ur Rehman, CEO, Reon Energy emphasised the need for technological growth to spur renewals options, while Syed Imran Shah, GM at FFC Jhimpir Wind Power, concluded, by saying that the wind energy projects in the country, particularly in Sindh, have increased to a great extent.
Being organised for the eighth consecutive time, the conference has made a mark as one of the premier events in the federal capital focusing on the challenges of the energy sector. Earlier, in his opening remarks, Menin Rodriguez, Chairman of SHAMROCK Conferences International and the Convenor of the conference said, "It is heartening to see most stakeholders in the energy sector participate in the conference, indicating the importance, both the government, the private sector and investor groups & countries, were giving to this challenging situation. I am sure the way forward to achieving our collective goals is to come together and dialogue to adopt the most favourable route."
The annual conclave of key stakeholders attracted 150 delegates from more than 100 companies and organisations that are directly or indirectly connected to the energy sector in Pakistan. Display stalls were set-up by sponsor companies which provided additional attention from the participants.
The annual event was addressed by representatives of government, regulatory bodies, eminent practitioners, opinion makers, and potential foreign investor countries. Ambassadors, Charge d'Affairs and Commercial Attaches of Turkmenistan, Qatar, Iran, Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Poland, the UK and Algeria, respectively, also attended the sessions.