Pakistan declared an energy emergency on March 10, 2026, following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that closed the Strait of Hormuz, impacting 60% of Pakistan's imported energy. This crisis caused the weekly oil import bill to surge from $300 million to $800 million, a 167% increase, erasing two years of economic progress.
April 2026 recorded a historic $2.27 billion petroleum import bill and zero LNG imports due to disruptions at Qatar's Ras Laffan complex and restricted transit. The article attributes this dependency to six decades of offshore exploration failures since 1963, including 18 dry wells and an 18-year gap in bid rounds, alongside a Rs 4.9 trillion circular debt. Despite proven domestic reserves, the national gas utility curtails local offtake due to financial obligations while importing resources. The 2013 decision to prioritize LNG imports over long-term domestic exploration exacerbated this vulnerability, now evident as the 2025 Offshore Bid Round attempts to address long-deferred exploration with an $80 million investment.
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