Pakistan’s Energy Crisis

A Conference at the Woodrow Wilson Center
July 23, 2014

Opening Address: A View from Islamabad about Pakistan’s Immediate Energy Challenges

A senior Pakistani official will articulate Islamabad’s perspective on the energy crisis, and lay out the government’s plans and objectives in the immediate term and over the next three to five years.

Confirmed speaker: Musadiq Malik, advisor to the prime minister on water and energy.

Morning Panel: Securing the Right Sources of Energy

Topic 1: Coal

Is Islamabad’s new emphasis on coal a realistic solution? Is it practical to believe the Thar coalfields can be adequately tapped anytime soon? If so, at what cost, and how would this be financed? Where else does Pakistan plan to get its coal from? Can it successfully convert furnace oil to coal? Should it be importing more coal; can it afford to do so? What are the environmental tradeoffs for Pakistan of a greater reliance on coal? Overall, how can coal help Pakistan address its energy crisis in the immediate term?

Confirmed speaker: Khalid Mansoor, head of HUBCO.

Topic 2: Oil and natural gas

How much indigenous oil and gas does Pakistan have in reserve for the next three to five years? How quickly can it be accessed? What is the proper balance to be struck between exploiting remaining (and rapidly dwindling) indigenous stocks and importing oil and gas from abroad?

Confirmed speaker: Robert Lesnick, Washington, DC-based consultant. Formerly with Conoco Phillips and head of World Bank’s Global Gas Policy unit.

Topic 3: Rapidly deployable projects: coalbed methane, geothermal, small hydro, solar

Confirmed speaker: Shannon Grewer, principal, EMI Advisers.

What makes these types of projects so advantageous? What are the implementation challenges? What level of buy-in is there from the political class? And how can these projects be leveraged to help Pakistan overcome its existing energy crisis?

Luncheon Address: Pakistan’s Power Sector Reforms

A senior government official will discuss how Pakistan’s government has proceeded on energy reform measures meant to address the immediate crisis.

Confirmed speaker: Nargis Sethi, Pakistan’s secretary for water and power.

Afternoon Panel: Energy (Mis)Governance

Topic 1: Energy Bureaucracy

Pakistan has no single coordinating energy authority; energy policy is shared by dozens of different agencies and entities. How can order best be brought to Pakistan’s energy policy sector? Would better coordination and cohesion translate to better energy policies? Is it realistic to think Pakistan’s energy sector can be restructured in the immediate term?

Confirmed speaker: Ziad Alahdad, former senior World Bank official.

Topic 2: Energy Pricing and Efficiency

In terms of energy pricing, when and for whom should energy be subsidized? Is there any way of knowing who truly has the capacity to pay for energy? Is there any kind of energy pricing reform that Pakistani politicians would be willing to implement, and particularly in the next three to five years? How to balance the needs of the poor with the monetary constraints of the energy sector?

In terms of efficiency, distribution and transmission losses are significant in Pakistan. How can they be reduced? And how can energy theft best be addressed? Are there lessons to be learned from Abraaj Capital’s role in helping privatize of KESC, which has boosted the supplier’s capacity and effectiveness?

Confirmed speaker: Akhtar Ali, independent energy and environment consultant.

Topic 3: Implementation Hurdles and Political Will

The dynamics of Pakistan’s political economy constrain the country’s ability to implement critical energy reforms, and to tackle the energy crisis more broadly. Implementation obstacles to be discussed include, but certainly are not limited to: Politicians’ sanctioning of electricity theft; powerful players refusing to pay their energy bills; favored industries receiving subsidized gas (in some cases politicians own clean natural gas stations); and spats between the federal government and provincial authorities over energy issues (including the Thar coalfields). Is there any way to get around these obstacles? At the end of the day, does the Pakistani government have the capacity and/or will to execute end-to-end solutions?

Confirmed speaker: Javed Akbar, Karachi-based energy consultant and formerly with Engro.