Wednesday, 21 December, 2022 i 27 Jamadi awwal, 1444 i rs 15.00 | Vol Xiii no 172 i 12 Pages i islamabad edition
IT’S MAINLY ABOUT NATION LIMITING ITS LIFESTYLE
Govt seeks provinces’ support for enerGy conservation plan g
KH ASIF SAyS eARly ClOSURe OF MARKeTS CAn HelP COUnTRy SAve RS62B
ISLAMABAD
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staff report
eFenCe Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that the government would approach the provinces for implementation of a policy aimed at saving energy. The announcement comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif di-
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SAyS POlITICIAnS SHOUlD Be FIRST OneS TO ADOPT AUSTeRITy MeASUReS
rected authorities concerned to take steps for reducing circular debt in the energy sector. “The distribution companies of Sui gas should improve the system of recovery of bills and no additional burden should be put on gas and electricity consumers,” the prime minister was quoted as saying. According to power division, the circular debt which stood at Rs2.253 trillion
by end of September last year had now reached Rs2.437 trillion, showing an increase of Rs185billion. Briefing the media after a meeting of the federal cabinet, Asif that the PM had held several meetings on the issue and a final decision would be taken by Thursday. He said that estimates had shown that if 20 percent of the government workforce worked from home on a rotation basis, Rs56 billion could be saved. “It is mainly about the nation limiting its lifestyle,” he said. He further said that the timing of wedding halls would be limited to 10pm, while restaurants, hotels and markets would close down by 8pm. He, however, said that there may be some room for the closing time for restaurants to be extended by an hour. The minister said that by implementing these few steps, the country would be able to save Rs62bn. Asif said that the government was slowly working on shifting to renewable energy but until that was achieved, such measures were important. He went on to say that energy-efficient fans and bulbs would soon be introduced in the market, which would further help save Rs38bn. “Similarly, if street lights are used alternatively, we would be able to save Rs4bn.”
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Bilawal, Blinken discuss reconstruction of flood-hit areas ISLAMABAD staff report
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Tuesday discussed the floodcaused destruction in Pakistan and reconstruction of the af-
fected areas. During the conversation, Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Bhutto Zardari "shared their mutual hope for a productive International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in January and discussed the need for close co-
ordination", according to the US State Department. Secretary Blinken offered condolences for lives lost in recent terrorist attacks and underscored the United States’ resolute support for Pakistan against terrorism. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister
Bilawal Bhutto conveyed gratitude on behalf of the Government of Pakistan for USG’s flood assistance of $97 million. He expressed the resolve that the two countries would continue to extend mutual cooperation for rebuilding resilient infrastructure in Pakistan. Both the countries would also keep up cooperation to further enhance and diversify bilateral relations and to work together for regional peace and stability, he added.
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33 TTP terrorists killed, two jawans martyred as SSG retakes Bannu CTD Centre PESHAWAR/BANNU agencies
The security forces, on Tuesday afternoon, took back the Bannu CounterTerrorism Department (CTD) Centre and cleared the building after killing all 33 terrorists inside the compound while securing release of all the hostages from their captivity. An officer of the SSG group – the elite unite of Pakistan Army sustained gunshot wounds while two jawans embraced martyrdom during the two hours long operation. According to officials, the operation conducted by the Special Services Group of Pakistan Army (SSG) was started at 12:30pm Tuesday after the terrorists refused to set free the hostage staff of CTD. The SSG commandos cleared the compound at 2:30pm after two hours long operation and killed all 33 terrorists inside the centre. The sources said that around 10 to 15 SSG jawans including an officer sustained injuries while two embraced martyrdom. On Sunday, the militants held hostage the staff at CTD centre after one of the outlaw snatched a rifle from its staffer after hitting him on head with the brick. There were reports that the arrested militants were demanding a safe airlift to Afghanistan along with their detained accomplices in return for the release of the hostage staff. Prior of the operation, the emergency was imposed in all three major hospitals of Bannu, while the local administration as a precau-
tionary measure had closed educational institutions. The people in the vicinity were asked to remain indoors and traffic in the area was also suspended. SSG ComPleTeS oPeraTion aGainST TerroriSTS aT Bannu CTD CenTre: On other hand, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that the Special Services Group (SSG) had completed the operation against terrorists at Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Centre Bannu, recovering all hostages and killing all members of the outlaw organization. Sharing details of the operation conducted by security forces against militants, who besieged the CTD center in Bannu, the minister informed the joint sitting of the parliament that all terrorists had been killed and the compound had been cleared at 2:30 pm on Tuesday. He said that the operation started at 12:30 pm on December 20 (today) and concluded at 2:30 pm. He added around 10 to 15 SSG jawans including one officer received injuries while two embraced Shahadat. The situation emerged after an arrested militant overpowered staff, snatched a rifle and later held hostages inside the CTD centre in Bannu, he added. Kh Asif informed the House, “All the terrorists who had taken hostages at CTD centre in Bannu were killed during the operation of security forces.” He said that total 33 terrorists were inside the centre and all were killed in the operation carried out by the Pak Army’s SSG.
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Pakistan plans to import gas from azerbaijan. Will it be enough to prevent a gas shortage? g
PAKISTAn HAS Been FRAnTICAlly TRyInG TO SOURCe nATURAl GAS BUT TO nO SUCCeSS SO FAR. GIven SUPPly COnSTRAInTS In MARKeT, THe COUnTRy COnSIDeRInG All OPTIOnS, InClUDInG IMPORT FROM AZeRBAIJAn. HOweveR, CARGOeS SIZe MIGHT nOT Be enOUGH TO HAve A MAJOR IMPACT. PRofIt REPoRt asad Ullah Kamran
According to Musadik Malik, Pakistan’s State Minister for Petroleum, the country will purchase 20,000 tons of gas from Azerbaijan over the next two months to meet domestic demand. Although this might seem like a huge development for the energy sector, it isn’t. A normal sized lnG cargo that Pakistan receives contains about 60,000 tons of gas on average, and we import 10 cargoes a month that amounts to a total of 600,000 tons. Comparing that to the potential imports in the coming months from Azerbaijan it’s a drop in the bucket. Despite the fact that these imports from Azerbaijan will not have a significant impact on the looming gas crisis,
it might be enough to keep a few stoves or a few industries up and running for a while a longer. Additional cargoes and gas conservation is the need of the hour to prevent a looming gas crisis. Apart from negotiations with Azerbaijan, according to Musadik Malik the government is working on the TAPI gas pipeline project as well. Pakistan would import 1300 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas each year to address the country’s gas shortfall after the completion of this project. 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’s no secret that domestic gas reserves have been declining at a very rapid rate due to misallocation of gas and inefficiencies within the transmission and distribution networks.
However, building the necessary infrastructure for TAPI to facilitate these imports would take years and Pakistan might not have that long to wait. For this reason the country has also approached oil and gas rich Azerbaijan for potential cargoes of gas, it can be considered as a stop gap measure but a necessary one nonetheless. Why azerbaijan? Azerbaijan has historically been an oil and gas rich country and is a major supplier of the european market. Due to the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine, its role as a major energy exporter has increased significantly. Ursula von der leyen, President of the european Commission, also emphasised the need for increased cooperation between the european Union and Azerbaijan during a visit to Baku earlier this year. The parties decided to
increase the amount of gas exported from Azerbaijan to europe from 8 billion cubic metres (bcm) last year to roughly 20 bcm by 2027. Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, also recently stated that his nation’s gas exports to europe are expected to increase to “at least” 11.6 bcm next year from an estimated 11.3 bcm this year, according to a report from the Interfax news agency. Azerbaijan provided 8.2 bcm of gas to europe last year. Azerbaijan is a nation that sits on the border between eastern europe and western Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus and is bordered by Iran to the south, the Caspian Sea to the east, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the northwest, and the Republic of Dagestan to the north. natural gas and oil resources are
plentiful in Azerbaijan. According to the June 2018 BP Statistical Review of world energy, at the end of 2017, its oil reserves, which totaled 7 billion barrels, represented 0.4% of the world’s reserves. natural gas reserves in Azerbaijan are believed to be 1.3 trillion cubic metres, and the Shah Deniz gas field, with more than 1,000 bcm, is one of the biggest in the world. Traditionally gas from Azerbaijan is pumped through pipelines from its point of origin to the point of consumption, primarily in Turkey and europe. This greatly reduces the cost of the gas and at the same time ensures consistent gas flows. whereas there is no pipeline network that connects Pakistan to Azerbaijan therefore transporting gas through ships is the only option.
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