Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik says that Pakistan does not know when the Middle East crisis will end, thus gas reserves must be stretched.

“One thing before us is that this is a matter of weeks, not days, which means that we have to stretch our reserves as much as we can,” he has told Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’.

The minister has added that QatarEnergy had declared force majeure because of the war, rendering them unable to deliver gas to clients, including Pakistan.

“We have to make an alternate arrangement,” Malik has stated. “The situation is developing in fortunate and unfortunate ways, and the weather is also changing.

“The demand of domestic consumers has reduced from 1,000 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) to under 600 mmcfd,” he adds. “The pressure of demand has eased.”