Islamabad: To meet the increased energy demand and improve supply, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recommended the development of an Underground Gas Storage (UGS) in Sindh, news sources reported on July 10. The bank has prepared a feasibility study to build the storage at the now-depleted gas field of Khorewah-1 in Sindh’s Badin District.
Reportedly, the feasibility report prepared by the Danish consulting firm estimates the total cost of the project to be around USD 1.388 billion, with a storage capacity of 70 billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas. The field, once completed, will be filled with gas coming from various streams, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Pipeline, the Offshore Gas Pipeline Project (OGPP), and the Iran-Pakistan (IP) Gas Pipeline. The stored gas will be supplied to the areas of high demand using the existing gas distribution infrastructure of the Sui Gas supply company.
Furthermore, the strategic gas reserves will deliver gas to the southern region of Pakistan during the winter, whilst the UGS storage would largely offer natural gas to Pakistan’s northern region. This has the benefit of supplying gas straight from the LNG storage facility rather than re-gasifying the LNG, moving it to the northeast to the UGS plant, and then delivering it back to the south at peak demand.
It is vital to note that Pakistan is on the verge of a gas shortage as local supplies have decreased and international gas prices have skyrocketed. The government has already planned the construction of strategic underground gas reserves in various places of the country, including Gwadar, to address the situation.
Nauman Ahmad is an imaginative Pisces whose love for literature and nature is unparalleled. When he's not reading or hiking, he's sleeping and eating, which gives him plenty of energy for his next adventure.
