Gas load shedding for the CNG has been increased by eight hours in violation of an agreement between the All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) and the Ministry of Petroleum, sources revelled to this correspondent.
This would sound the death knell of the CNG industry, lamented several members of the APCNGA, who further revealed that no negotiations with the Ministry were currently ongoing and the industry was currently in the process of developing a consensus between themselves as to the best line of action.
Dr Asim Hussain, Prime Minister's Advisor on Petroleum stated in the Senate that within the next two years CNG industry from the country would be eliminated. Additionally he has repeatedly stated that CNG industry had no future in the country.
According to him, Pakistan is facing serious energy crisis and the government has initiated three important importing gas projects which will not be feasible for the CNG sector due to high prices. The problem is the large number of filling stations and users of CNG in the country.
Statistics reveals that there are over 3,500 CNG filling stations and 3.5 million vehicles are using CNG as fuel, besides this investors on the guarantee of government have invested billions of rupees in the sector. CNG is a fuel used by the majority of the Public Service Vehicles (PSV) as thousands of rickshaws, suzukis, vans and other PSVs are running on CNG.
Iran Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline price would cost dollars 11/MMBtu, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) dollars 13/MMBtu and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) dollars 18/MMBtu. At present CNG sector is paying about Rs 1,000 per MMBtu including all the taxes, the price will touch Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 per MMBtu once imported gas arrived into the system. Pakistan's current gas demand is met entirely through domestic production which at present stands at 4,200 billion cubic feet (BCF) per day against total controlled demand of 6.5 BCF. To meet the shortfall the government is focused on imported gas options including IP, Tapi pipeline projects and import of LNG.
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