REPLACING LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) WITH SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS (SNG) IN THE ENERGY MIX OF PAKISTAN

摘要

Energy security is vital for a nation. Pakistan emerged on the world's Natural Gas Map in 1952 with a huge discovery in the Dera Bugti area of Balochistan. At 12 TCF it was one of the largest deposits of its time. Transmission and distribution of this natural resource started in 1955. Today the country has a state of the art gas network spread over 20,000 km covering the length and breadth of the entire land mass.rnIn order to meet its energy needs the government has signed a binding contract with Qatar to buy 1.3 million tons of LNG every year for a period of 20 years at a varying price of Brent. Even at the current low rates of oil the price of RLNG is higher (Rs. 946 / mmbtu) and unfeasible compared to local gas supply (Rs. 700/mmbtu). With climbing oil prices RLNG will be out of reach of the local industry. SNG produced from indigenous coal seems to be a more viable option. Worldwide there are three major projects for gasification of coal: Kemper County in Mississippi USA, National Taiwan University (NTU) and Institute of Chemical Processing of Coal Poland. In order to meet both environment and cost considerations SNG should be able to replace LNG in the long run.