Pakistani Stream: From Perspective to Implementation

The author pays attention to the internal political crisis in Pakistan, which ended with no confidence vote to the Prime Minister I. Khan in April 2022. The new Prime Minister Sh. Sharif intends to lead the Islamic Republic out of a long economic and energy crisis. The researcher notes that internal political tension in the Islamic Republic has not been overcome. Former Prime Minister I. Khan has a large number of supporters of his Movement for Justice (PTI) party and is well positioned to regain power in new elections, with additional support in regional parliaments in Punjab and Karachi (Sindh). The tensions in socio-political sphere are expected to last until the next national elections. The author draws attention to the fact that the success of the currently ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party will directly depend on the speedy crisis relief with the help of loans from the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have a significant impact on Pakistan’s energy sector. Lack of energy resources, disruption of LNG contracts from European companies in the autumn-winter 2021/2022 season, absence of upgraded infrastructure (in some cases any infrastructure at all) from the south to the densely populated northern provinces (mainly Punjab, and partly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) lead to power outages, which does not contribute to the economic development of the population. Overcoming the economic crisis will be supported by the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline, which will bring the Islamic Republic to a qualitatively new level of energy consumption. The author notes that in order to meet the energy needs of a large Asian country, it is also necessary to implement the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the former Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. In terms of its realization, it is necessary to solve the problem with the security of the province of Balochistan.

Currently the final negotiations between Pakistan and Russia on the implementation of Pakistan Stream Project are underway.russia and Iran have also signed a memorandum on gas supplies to Pakistan and Oman. Nowadays due to high LNG prices and limited market supply, Islamabad has been forced to switch to diesel fuel to generate electricity at Thermal Power Plants (TPPs). Thus, the author concludes that Pakistan may count on Russia, Iran and China for stable natural gas supplies in the form of LNG or, in the medium term, through the main gas pipeline at an affordable price, taking into account the phased implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (for example, the joint construction of hydroelectric power plants). Whereas the United States and the Persian Gulf monarchies are not fully interested in the socio-economic development of the Islamic Republic, but only in maintenance of the economic status quo.

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