Pakistan may experience its worst gas crisis in 2016 as supply-demand position deteriorates, the State Bank of Pakistan had said in December last year.  - File photo

NEW DELHI: India’s state owned oil and gas company GAIL has offered Pakistan a deal to import natural gas from India at a time when Pakistan is going through a gas crisis, according to a report by the Times of India.

GAIL proposing to extend to Lahore a natural gas pipeline it has recently installed from the west coast to Bhatinda in Indian Punjab, sources told Times of India. Bhatinda is around 25-km away from the India-Pakistan border.

The company has plans to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) at one of its import terminals in Gujrat move this gas through the Dahej-Vijaipu -Dadri-Bawana-Nangal-Bhatinda pipeline to Punjab and then into Pakistan.

The company would offer a final proposal to Pakistan only after the approval from the Indian ministry of external affairs.

According to a State Bank of Pakistan report from last year, Pakistan may experience its worst gas crisis in 2016 when the deficit is expected to hit 3.021 bcfd (billion cubic feet per day) as supply-demand gap increases.

Since Pakistan has not built any LNG import terminal so far, this venture would be more sensible for Pakistan to pursue.

The LNG terminal will take a minimum of four years to build while the GAIL pipeline can be expanded into Lahore within months, the Times of India quotes its sources as saying.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Maulana’s message
Updated 11 Mar, 2025

Maulana’s message

The problem now is that most jihadi fighters, ideologues refuse to end their "struggle" on advice of state or mainstream clerics.
President’s speech
11 Mar, 2025

President’s speech

PRESIDENT Asif Zardari, addressing Monday’s joint session of parliament to mark the start of a new parliamentary...
Indian takeover
11 Mar, 2025

Indian takeover

BY the time the Champions Trophy final ended, the only indicators that the tournament had been hosted by Pakistan...
Mosquito season
10 Mar, 2025

Mosquito season

AS temperatures rise, the threat of dengue looms large over Pakistan. Its warning signs have already arrived. Dengue...
Reckless rhetoric
10 Mar, 2025

Reckless rhetoric

ONCE again, the Indian leadership gave in to their worst impulses, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar...
Water scarcity
Updated 10 Mar, 2025

Water scarcity

The need to meet climate challenge is even greater when Pakistan is prone to multiple disastrous events at the same time.