ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel was informed Thursday that 15 percent unaccountable for gas (UfG) volume of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) was result of 750,000 illegal gas connections given in Karachi and the provincial government was not giving due attention to the problem.
Mohammad Abdul Qadir chaired the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum on Thursday.
The committee was briefed on the SSGC and the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) line losses, ie, UfG for the financial year 2015-16, 2018-19, and 2020-21 with province-wise and region-wise breakup.
Managing Director SSGC Imran Maniar disclosed before the committee that illegal construction and 750,000 illegal gas connections in Karachi was the main hurdle in reducing UfG volume of the gas company in the last three years.
Other reasons were gas theft and non-payment of bills in Balochistan during winter.
The UfG volume of the SNGPL whereas was reduced to 8.93 percent from 11.86 percent in last three years which served Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), AJK, and the northern region, the committee was informed.
Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Masroor Khan said that he repeatedly approached Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah to resolve the issue but no action so far been taken in this respect.
He said the illegal connections consumed 10 bcf gas or Rs12 billion, which was high financial losses to the national exchequer.
Energy Minister Muhammad Hammad Azhar also criticised the provincial government of Sindh for delay in resolving the issue, which caused financial losses and shortage of gas in Sindh.
The presentation of UfG of last three years of the SSGC showed that the target to reduce UfG in financial year 2021-22 (till November 2021) was only 0.2 percent against the target of 2.33 percent.
The volume of UfG in financial year 2020-21 was 1.96 percent against a target of 2.46 percent and the volume was 0.04 percent against 1.87 percent set in 2019-20.
Contrary to the SSGC, Managing Director Ali J Hamdani SNGPL said that 2.93 percent UfG volume was reduced which resulted in a saving of Rs10 billion in the last three years.
He said the 52 mmcfd UfG volume in 2018-19 was reduced to 34 mmcfd in 2021-22.
Responding to a question regarding disconnection of gas supply to textile mills in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa without any notice or intimation, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said that the mills owners violated the agreement with the government for raise in tariff from $6.5 per mmbtu to $9 mmbtu in winter and obtained stay against raise.
Therefore, he said the government disconnected the gas to captive power plants from December 16 to December 29.
He said the government was giving Rs150 billion subsidised rate to various sector of the economy.
Senator Mohsin Aziz raised the issue of disconnection of gas supply to textile mills in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa without any prior notice.
He said that this step of the SNGPL is in violation of Article 158 of the Constitution.
Senator Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti informed the Committee that up till now there is no gas in Sui.
Senator Afnan Ullah Khan said that according to a Bloomberg report, Pakistan exports will decline due to non-availability of gas to industrial sectors.
In reply to raised issue, the Secretary Petroleum said that owing to decrease in domestic production and increase in demand, the government has to shut down supply.
It was government policy to cut off gas supply to captive power generation due to circular debt of 1.3 trillion rupees.
But as of current situation, the ministry gave directives that every textile mills can get gas supply after efficiency audit.
Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir remarked that gas shortage has added to the miseries of the people and collaborated efforts are required to be made to provide relief.
He called upon all the stakeholders to provide input in enhancing production and take effective measures against illegal connections and theft.
The chairman committee inquired from the Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar that whether industries can import the gas by itself.
In reply to this, the minister said that the PLL gave tender notice last month but unfortunately not a single industry came forward.
The reason is that why would industries import gas that cost them 40$ instead of government given gas that only cost 8 or 9 USD, he added.
The government is also planning to give third parties access to terminals, he further added.
Senator Afnan Ullah Khan asked the minister about the present status of the CNG sector in the country.
The minister said that a summary has been prepared to give third party access to CNG Association to import LNG for itself, which will be sent to the Cabinet for approval in the next coming weeks and the association is very satisfied about this initiative.
Discussing details of contract of the PLL with the SNGPL for supply of LNG, officials apprised the committee that 90pc of this agreement has been finalised and this will be concluded in one month.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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