Review of natural gas during July-March FY20.

International researchers identified that the natural gas demand during 2022 is expected to fall and remain subdued up to 2025. Europe's surging pursuit of LNG to phase out Russian pipeline supply and limited global LNG export capacity additions raise the risk of prolonged tight markets. Faster development and implementation of clean energy transition strategies, mainly in mature gas markets, would ease price competition and assist emerging markets access supplies that can contribute to short-term improvements in carbon intensity and air quality.

Today's record-high gas prices researchers also identified that, are depressing demand and causing some gas users to switch to coal and oil, while present sharp cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe are raising alarms about supplies ahead of the winter. It is also said that the turmoil is damaging natural gas' reputation as a reliable and affordable energy source, casting doubts about the role it was expected to play in assisting developing economies to meet growing energy demand and transition away from more carbon-intensive fuels.

Statistics showed that the present developments have led to a considerable downward revision of gas growth prospects. Global gas demand is set to rise by a total of 140 billion cubic metres (bcm) between 2021 and 2025 less than half the amount forecast formerly and smaller than the 170 bcm increase seen in 2021 alone.

No doubt, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the tightening supply of natural gas underway since mid-2021, further pushing up prices for consumers and leading to fuel switching and demand destruction. It also casts longer-term uncertainty on market prospects for natural gas, particularly in developing markets where it was to play a central role in energy transitions.

According to the government data, the indigenous supply of natural gas witnessed a fall of almost 5 percent and its contribution registered at 33.1 percent in the total primary energy supply mix of Pakistan. The available statistics for July-March FY2022 showed that an extensive gas network of over 13,513 km transmission, 155,679 km distribution and 41,231 km of services gas pipelines are available to cater to the requirement of millions of consumers. Statistics showed that the number of the consumer has increased from 10.3 million to greater than 10.7 million in Pakistan. The government's strategies to improve indigenous gas production to meet the increasing demand for energy in the...