In the Karak district of northwestern Pakistan this month of January we can see young men waving giant white balloons.
They are not on their way to a carnival, but are transporting methane illegally extracted from the gas network, which they carry with them in plastic bags so that they can cook and heat their home. It must be said that despite the region’s significant oil and gas resources, the majority of residents do not have access to gas.
This so-called “pocket gas” delivery method poses a high risk of explosion that turns carriers into “walking bombs,” according to Pakistani journalist Ghulam Abbas Shah.
#Pakistan Since households are not supplied with natural gas, residents of Karak carry gas in plastic bags for their household needs. They are literally mobile bombs. Karak has vast estimated oil and gas reserves #Karak People have not been provided with legal gas connections since 2007. pic.twitter.com/FMphcH6nUa
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) December 29, 2022
Thank you Europe
Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the devastating floods last summer, Pakistan, which for years has depended primarily on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar, has been struggling to provide itself with methane. Especially because LNG shipments destined for this have been diverted to other destinations such as the European Union.
In search of alternatives to Russian gas, it has literally “plunged” Pakistan and Bangladesh into the dark. Worse still, no bidder had applied in October for Islamabad’s tender to supply the country with LNG in the period 2023-2029. Finally, the cost of Pakistan’s LNG imports could top $32 billion by 2030, up from $2.6 billion in 2021.
All these problems have led to shortages and rising prices. Domestic gas demand is around 2.5 billion m3/day, while supply is currently peaking at 1.7 billion m3/day.
As a result, Pakistani authorities have allowed key suppliers to raise their prices by around 75% – a disaster for the poorest households. Even if the authorities try stubbornly to curb the trade in “gas in a bag”, the phenomenon will not stop.