Pakistan always seems to be short of something. Not long ago, a dearth of flour and sugar sent prices for those staples sky high. Farm fields parched by the country's severe water-supply shortage were submerged and silted over in last summer's catastrophic floods, but with floodwaters receding, the water-supply crisis looms once more. Electricity is always in short supply, so much so that rolling blackouts, known here as "loadshedding," are a daily scourge during the summer that cripples the economy.

In winter, Pakistanis cope with a different, though equally irksome, brand of loadshedding. The country relies on natural gas to heat homes and offices. When natural-gas supplies dwindle, the government resorts to rationing gas to equitably distribute the hardship of no heat and no fuel for cooking. This winter, episodes of gas loadshedding have been more frequent and have lasted longer than in years past.

As a result, Pakistanis rich and poor have been collectively shivering -- and getting increasingly rankled. In the capital, Islamabad, the average low temperature in January is 36 degrees. It's not Siberia, but without heat, the air inside households can get pretty frosty. Pakistanis have been flocking to appliance stores to snatch up electric heaters, but those heaters can't match the heat produced by the gas heaters relied on by most Pakistani families.

Until now, Abu Dhabi has been known as the quiet powerhouse behind its flashier neighbor, Dubai, bankrolling record-breaking skyscrapers and fantastical island resorts intended to make the United Arab Emirates synonymous with luxury, wealth and success.

But now Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, is looking to set a different kind of example. The Masdar development project, due to be completed in 2013, aims to be the world's first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city.

Nawal Al Hosany, associate director for sustainability at Masdar, told Babylon & Beyond that the project is "leading by example and is already being approached by other developers and government entities within Abu Dhabi for advice on how to be more sustainable."

"Masdar is acting as a regional catalyst for sustainability," he added.

But the Emirates have a long way to go. The World Wildlife Fund has singled out the tiny oil- and gas-rich country for having the largest environmental footprint per capita in the world.

Inexpensive gas coupled with residents' taste for big cars and houses -- not to mention the amount of energy needed to run an indoor ski slope in scorching desert temperatures –– have contributed to pushing the UAE's environmental footprint up to 11.9 global hectares per person, more than five times the global average of 2.2.

As the deadlock between Iran and Afghanistan over fuel imports enters its second month, pressure is mounting in Kabul to sever economic relations with Iran unless it eases its clampdown on fuel tankers attempting to cross into the country.

Iran claims it is holding up the shipments as it investigates reports that the fuel crossing its border is used by North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops fighting in Afghanistan, a claim Kabul denies.

Afghanistan is upset over the blocked shipments, which has led to skyrocketing energy prices across Afghanistan.

Some have pointed out that the clampdown coincided with the Afghan president signing the agreement to build the American-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, otherwise known as TAPI, of which Iran was left out.

Huge gas fields discovered recently under the Mediterranean seabed have raised high hopes in Israel, a small, high-consumption country seeking alternative energy resources and a greater degree of
  independence from imports.

In a different geopolitical reality, the discovery could benefit the whole region — if it was on speaking terms. Everyone wants to tap natural resources — but this one taps into standing regional squabbles.

Israel and Lebanon, for example. The deposits extend into areas controlled by Lebanon, and it has accused Israel of moving in on its natural resources. Not so, says  Israel, which maintains that the fields lie between its territory and Cyprus.  Israel's minister of national infrastructures, Uzi Landau, even said Israel would "not hesitate to use force" to protect the fields and uphold international maritime law.

The Americans were confounded. Maksat Idenov (pictured), the Harvard Business School-educated head of Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil company, had abruptly booted Guy Hollingsworth, a Chevron Corp. executive, from a meeting and from talks over a potentially lucrative deal.

A month went by before they finally figured out what had gone wrong. The executive of the California-based energy giant had been spotted playing golf in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and sunning in Spain with Idenov’s predecessor and rival, according to a Feb. 14, 2008, dispatch from the U.S. Embassy in Astana released by WikiLeaks.

“Idenov amplified his anger with Hollingsworth by explaining that Hollingsworth does not understand how we are doing business now,” said the dispatch.

The confidential dispatches from Central Asia depict a slicked-back 21st century version of the Great Game, the 19th century battle between the Russian and British empires over Central Asia’s riches. In today’s great game, diplomats and jet-set corporate executives gather business intelligence to outsmart corrupt autocrats and navigate teetering bureaucracies and make fortunes in the energy business.

Are Iran's attempts to deal with international sanctions a cause of the extremely high air-pollution levels afflicting the capital city of Tehran?

A report Monday on the Persian-language news website Khabaronline says record pollution choking Tehran for the last month may be the result of low-quality gasoline Iran has been producing to counter the effects of international sanctions.

Iran, one of the world's biggest oil producers, nevertheless had to import much of its refined fuel to satiate the demands of its population.

But international sanctions over Iran's' nuclear program are spurring many companies to stop doing business with the Islamic Republic.

Not to worry, said Iranian authorities. Iran can make its own high-quality gasoline.

But as residents of Tehran are choked by continued stifling smog, consumers are becoming more doubtful.  

The race is on for oil in the eastern Mediterranean, with at least four major competitors gunning to win.

But it's far from a friendly competition. Of those four, two are locked in an ongoing state of war and the third refuses to recognize the fourth.

So will Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus find a way to work things out?

Not likely, although the possibility of war between Israel and Lebanon is far more likely than an outbreak of violence between Turkey and Cyprus, observers say.

Turkey this week announced its intention to start oil exploration off the northern coast of Cyprus near the breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave while simultaneously expressing dismay with the Greek Cypriot government's decision to negotiate oil exploration deals with Lebanon.

"Greek Cyprus does not represent the entire island and it cannot strike deals that concern the interests of the whole island," an unnamed Turkish diplomatic source told the Turkish English-language newspaper Hurriyet Daily News. "That's an attitude we have often shared with our Lebanese friends and I think they will take this into consideration."

The historic town of Hasankeyf on the banks of the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey was once an important stop on the Silk Road connecting Asia to Europe, part of a rich history that sustains some 3,000 residents who depend on tourism to make a living.

But Hasankeyf will soon be completely submerged, along with its many archeological treasures, as the government hastens to complete a huge hydroelectric dam just 45 miles downstream.

On the foothills of a nearby hill, heavy machinery is busy constructing the foundations for a new town where the government plans to resettle the mostly Kurdish residents of Hasankeyf once the Ilisu Dam is completed, but support for the resettlement plan among locals is low.

“The authorities will pay us 30,000 lira ($20,000) for our homes but they want to charge us 70,000 lira ($46,850) to move into the houses up there,” said local retailer Muhyettin Talayhan, pointing to the machinery in the distance.

The massive 1,200-megawatt hydroelectric dam is part of a wider development called the South-East Anatolia Project (GAP), which, when completed, will be one of the largest regional projects in the world. The $32-billion project will provide much needed electricity, and, the government hopes, undermine Kurdish opposition groups galvanized by popular resentment over poverty and poor infrastructure.

A spill of around 100 tons of diesel into the Nile River has forced Egyptian authorities to shut down four water purification stations as a precaution to prevent contamination.

The spill resulted from the partial sinking of a barge owned by the state's Nile Co. for River Transportation that was docking in the city of Aswan, 650 miles south of Cairo, because of low water levels Saturday. It further degrades an Nile River basin already damaged by overuse, pollution and drought.

"All measures are being taken to clean up the leakage and ensure that drinking water supplies are safe," Aswan's governor, Mustafa Sayed, was quoted as saying by Egypt's official news agency MENA. "Sites along the Nile that feed river water to purification stations have been blocked off as a precautionary measure to prevent polluted water from entering filters."

The vessel's captain, who was interrogated right after the incident, blamed low water levels as the main reason for the leakage.

Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the formation of an investigative committee, with the participation of officials from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment, to find reasons for the leak.

Thousands of Egyptians were forced to break their Ramadan fasting by candlelight on Wednesday. Not really what could be called a romantic iftar, but rather a way of coping with rolling electrical outages across the nation. 

The neighborhoods of Nasr City, Maadi and Haram in Cairo, as well as other parts of Egypt, experienced blackouts between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., and once again later in the evening. The power cuts were the latest in a series of outages that have marred Egypt's scorching hot summer as well as citizens' celebrations during the holy month of Ramadan.

While Egyptians are blaming the government for failing to deal with escalating power consumption since June, officials at the Ministry of Electricity and Energy have asked for better conservation.

With 18.3 billion barrels of oil, Egypt has achieved its highest-ever proven oil reserves during the 2009-2010 fiscal year ending last June, the state's official MENA agency announced.

Crossing the 18 billion barrels margin, despite increasing local consumption, is an impressive national milestone after the nation's  reserves stood as low as 11.8 billion barrels in fiscal year 1999-2000, according to the report issued by the Egyptian Petroleum Authority and quoted by MENA.

In 2009, gas was the dominant fuel for Egypt, accounting for an estimated 50% of primary energy demand, followed by oil at 43.1%.

Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi stressed that the current figures are the highest in Egypt's history, adding that proven reserves are expected to reach 20 billion barrels over the next two years.

The Egyptian Petroleum Authority report cited sustained development of exploration and drilling programs and expanding the search for oil into various regions across Egypt. The news comes as Egypt is also looking at nuclear power to meet the country's rising energy demands.

Egypt penned oil agreements with a number of international corporations at a value of $8 billion in 2009-2010. Another deal struck with Germany's RWE in July to develop offshore fields, which will supply up to 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas by 2014, was worth $9 billion.

Foreign investment in the field of oil and gas exploration in Egypt has reached $16.3 billion last year.  Business Monitor International recently forecast that Egypt will account for 10.34% of the Middle East and Africa's regional power generation by 2014, expecting an increase in Egyptian electricity generation of 43.7% during the coming four years.

--Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: An offshore oil rig in Egypt. Credit: Associated Press

In an attempt to meet the country's increasing energy consumption rates, Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Energy announced that it will open bids for its first nuclear power plant this year.

"Egypt's nuclear program is progressing steadily and we expect to start the tender before the end of the year," Minister of Electricity and Energy, Hassan Younes, told state-owned newspaper Al Ahram.

The minister added that Dabaa, on the Egyptian northern coast, has been recommended as a site for the nuclear reactor by an international consulting firm, which relied on studies reviewed by the National Centre for Nuclear Safety and Control. NCNSC will issue its final and official approval in two months.