KARACHI: Pakistan’s energy sector is confronting simultaneous pressures on multiple fronts, as the country secured its costliest spot liquefied natural gas cargo since February even as two sanctioned tankers carrying Iranian crude signalled Pakistani waters as a destination, and industry groups warned of imminent petrol and propane shortages.
Energy
LPG industry warns of shortage, threatens strike over pricing dispute
LAHORE: Pakistan’s liquefied petroleum gas industry escalated a monthslong dispute with federal regulators this weekend, with importers warning of an imminent nationwide shortage and more than 1,000 industry representatives threatening to shut down operations entirely if their demands are not met within three days.
World Bank approves $375.9 mln for Pakistan power grid upgrade
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved $375.9 million in financing to help Pakistan modernise its national power transmission network, the lender said on Friday, the first tranche of a decade-long programme aimed at easing chronic outages and expanding the use of clean energy.
Pakistan trims petrol, diesel prices, but levy changes limit the benefit
KARACHI: The government lowered gasoline and diesel prices for the first time in roughly three weeks, passing on part of the recent decline in global crude costs to motorists while a simultaneous tax increase curbed the size of the relief.
Pakistan restores long-idle hydro unit in militant-scarred South Waziristan after decade of delays
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state utility has restored a hydropower station in the volatile tribal belt of South Waziristan to its full generating capacity after nearly a decade of running at half power, officials said on Thursday, in a rare infrastructure win for a region long troubled by militancy and neglect.
Islamabad’s fuel price cuts leave Pakistan oil sector nursing $367 mln inventory blow
KARACHI: Pakistan’s oil industry has absorbed losses of roughly 104 billion rupees ($367 million) after the government slashed domestic fuel prices in the wake of a US-Iran ceasefire that reopened the Strait of Hormuz and sent international crude markets sharply lower, according to an industry letter.
Petrol pumped below Rs300 as Pakistan claims peacemaking dividend
ISLAMABAD: The government has announced its largest single-day reduction in fuel prices in recent memory, slashing petrol by Rs74 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs67 per litre — a move Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presented on Friday as both an economic dividend of easing global oil markets and a vindication of Islamabad’s months-long diplomatic gambit to broker peace between Washington and Tehran.
Electricity tariff set for Rs1.74/unit hike after LNG supply disruption, nuclear outages
ISLAMABAD: Electricity consumers face a Rs1.74-per-unit increase in their June bills after the country’s power sector regulator received a request for more than Rs16 billion in additional fuel-cost recoveries, driven by a US-Iran military confrontation that disrupted liquefied natural gas supplies and was aggravated by reduced output from a nuclear plant outside Karachi.
Islamabad restores early market closures as energy austerity returns after Eid reprieve
ISLAMABAD: The federal government reimposed strict market-closing hours in Islamabad from Monday, ordering shops and malls to shut by 8 p.m. in a renewed push to rein in energy consumption — a measure that had been suspended for weeks to accommodate Eid Al-Adha celebrations, but that traders warn is gutting their livelihoods.
Pakistan plans strategic oil reserves and trader storage to counter Hormuz dependence
KARACHI: Pakistan is preparing to build its first strategic petroleum reserves and invite international traders to hold commercial stocks on its soil, a push aimed at shielding the economy from supply disruptions after years of relying on shipments through the volatile Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.