The Express Tribune: Pakistan Looks to Russia for Satiating Energy Demand

In an effort to meet the burgeoning demand for electricity and gas, the government has found a new partner – the energy-rich Russia that has vast reserves of oil and natural gas.

In recent years, energy supply has become a major challenge for Pakistan where hours-long outages and gas rationing have been part of the daily life of ordinary people and industrial and commercial concerns.

Though some initiatives have been taken by the present and past governments to clinch major energy deals like the Iran-Pakistan (IP) and Tapi gas pipelines and Central Asia-South Asia 1,000-megawatt power import programme, implementation work on these has not yet begun.

The energy projects agreed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), however, have become encouraging and may be executed on a fast track. MORE