Power Minister Declares End of Month-Long Loadshedding After LNG Arrival

Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari on Friday declared an end to a month-long loadshedding crisis across Pakistan, citing the arrival of a long-delayed liquefied natural gas shipment as the immediate catalyst for restoring power supply to the national grid.

The announcement marks a significant development in Pakistan's protracted energy management struggle, where gas shortfalls had severely curtailed electricity generation capacity, resulting in extended power outages that affected households, industry, and commercial activity nationwide for approximately four weeks.

The LNG cargo's arrival allows gas-fired power plants to resume fuller operational output, providing short-term relief to a grid that had been operating well below peak generation requirements. The minister's declaration signals an intent to sustain supply, though energy sector analysts have previously cautioned that Pakistan's LNG procurement pipeline remains structurally exposed to global price volatility and scheduling delays.

The episode has renewed scrutiny over the government's energy planning framework, particularly its reliance on spot LNG purchases when long-term supply contracts lapse or face procurement delays. Industry stakeholders had warned in recent weeks that the prolonged outages were inflicting measurable economic losses on export-oriented manufacturing sectors.