Dr Asim Hussain, Advisor to Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources, has said that textile industry in Punjab would be provided with six hours a day gas supply during peak hours to mitigate the impact of electricity loadshedding throughout the month of January.
He was addressing a press conference at the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab office. The Central Chairman APTMA Ahsan Bashir, Chairman APTMA Punjab Shahzad Ali Khan, Group Leader APTMA Gohar Ejaz, former Minister for Textile Rana Farooq Saeed and APTMA members were also present on the occasion.
Dr Asim said, "the month of January would be the toughest one so far as gas supply is concerned and some adjustments would be need of the hour. I have met with all the stakeholders including industry and SNGPL and decided to ensure six hours a day and 36 hours a week gas supply during peak hours to mitigate the impact of electricity loadshedding on the industry." Also, he added, gas would be supplied to the processing industry.
Dr Asim said that the industry in Punjab was very close to his heart, which was in a state of crisis due to gas loadshedding. He said that the severity of gas loadshedding was not as serious in other provinces as in the province of Punjab. It was not because of mismanagement but it was a political issue, he said, adding "There is an urgent need for equitable distribution of energy in the country."
According to him, some bad policy decisions of the past were responsible for prevailing discrimination, which required an alternate solution without delay. "We are producing 4bcfd gas against a demand of 8bcfd," he added. Dr Asim said bringing in more gas to the system takes time but we have formulated lucrative policies under the Petroleum Policy, Tight Gas Policy, Low BTU Policy, Flat Gas Policy, Shale Gas Policy and Marginal Gas Policy. He said the possibility of shale gas was high in Pakistan and drilling to this effect will likely to take place in near future. It would ease pressure on supply side and the phase of bad policy making would come to an end, he added.
According to him, there is excessive usage of gas due to high use of CNG, which needs to be corrected forthwith. There was a need to discourage heavy vehicles from using it. The low price of CNG has increased its use countrywide. "I have directed the ministry to separate distribution of gas from transmission both on the SNGPL and the SSGC system to check gas theft," he said. He further pointed out that laying down of new gas pipelines for domestic consumers has a total impact of 200mmcfd, which would keep on increasing with further addition to the lines. This problem can only be overcome by importing gas.
He said every domestic user was enjoying a subsidy of Rs 300 as a rebate on the use of gas up to 300mmcfd therefore it was a wrong impression that there was no gas subsidy in Pakistan. He added that there are a few pipelines redundant on the SNGPL network, bringing a constraint of 1bcf on the system. CNG usage has increased due to low price of gas by the Supreme Court and majority of the owners have got a stay against government taxes, he added.
According to him, LNG is to be imported from any destination across the world to meet the gas shortage and work on the Iran Pakistan gas pipeline would start during the present regime, as Iran had already committed $500 million to Pakistan for the project. There was no pressure on Pakistan regarding the gas project with Iran, he added.
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