Pakistan Today: TAPI pipeline: A nexus for peace and stability

Several countries are making tremendous efforts to overcome their energy shortage, which they are currently facing or which they expect to face in the near future. For the past seven years, Pakistan has been suffering from a dire energy crisis because the country did not increase its energy capacity. This is not only affecting different sectors of the economy, but also diverse segments of society.

By 2050, Pakistan’s electricity requirements will grow three-fold. If sufficient resources are not allocated and utilised effectively and efficiently, the energy crisis will further aggravate. Beyond installing energy production units indigenously, importing energy (though unreliable) is a quick solution to be relied on. Therefore, it is required to analyse the accessible choices to import energy from the neighbouring countries in order to meet the current and future energy needs of the country.

In the South Asian region, Pakistan and India are the two major energy consumers and they are getting increasingly dependent on imported oil and natural gas. Liquefied natural gas is an expensive source as compared to the mechanism of gas pipelines, which costs in the range of $16 to $18 per million British thermal units (mmbtu). The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is a major project being pursued, which would be the beginning of a new era of cooperation and interconnectedness at the regional level. MORE