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Natural gas in Pakistan and Bangladesh: current issues and trends / Ieda Gomes. Oxford : OIES, June 2013, 87 p. (NG 77) http://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/NG-77.pdfNatural gas commentary and industry focus on South Asia tends to target India, the largest gas market.   Pakistan and Bangladesh in aggregate however equal India in terms of gas consumption and as such are significant markets in their own right.  This paper by Ieda Gomes is an in-depth study of the genesis and present situation of these two significant gas consuming countries, including the drag on their potential economic output as a consequence of gas supply shortages and the attempts of each to secure gas import projects be they pipeline gas or LNG.  Their lack of success to date due to poor institutional capability, insufficient trust with potential suppliers or merely procedural shortcomings is recounted.  This said, there is clearly a need for both a re-invigorated upstream domestic exploration and development campaign and the implementation of a coherent import strategy.  Reform of domestic pricing is critical to the achievement of both these necessary developments. This paper is a detailed and comprehensive study of these gas markets at a crucial stage of their evolution. (© OIES)