As the US-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of the world’s oil flows, fuel prices have spiked and the International Energy Agency has called this the greatest energy security threat in history. For Pakistan, this is not a distant crisis. Every $10 rise in oil prices widens our current account deficit by $1.5 to $2 billion and pushes inflation up by nearly half a percentage point. Fuel prices across the country are already climbing. The answer to this quagmire lies beneath our own soil. With Thar coal costing Rs13 per unit versus Rs30 for RLNG, and some large power plants already running on indigenous coal, the merit order speaks for itself. Scaling up Thar is not a long-term ambition. It is an immediate national imperative.
Usama Ghulam Rasool
Karachi
