The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved, in principle, the construction of a 1100 kilometer North South Gas Pipeline from Karachi to Lahore for supply of RLNG to the proposed gas fired power plants in northern Pakistan. Sources said the project has been approved in the light of a decision taken by Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The Ministry, on the directive of CCOE, submitted a proposal to the ECC arguing that the approval of the project is critical for the supply of RLNG to power plants in northern Pakistan. The Ministry requested ECC''s approval of the project, in principle; and that Inter State Gas Systems Private limited may be designated as the executing agency to implement it under a government-to-government arrangement in liaison with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL).
The meeting was further informed that gas supply-demand gap has widened to 2 million cubic feet with a supply of 4,000 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD). The Ministry further argued that in order to bridge the supply-demand gap, the Ministry is pursuing certain transnational gas pipeline projects (Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline Project) while the LNG Terminals at Port Qasim and Gwadar Port have also been planned to handle imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) with the capacity to re-gasify approximately 2 billion Cubic Feet Daily (BCFD) equivalent of natural gas.
Its availability would enable Pakistan to meet its ever-growing energy needs and give the option to diversify gas supply resources through international energy market. The ECC of the Cabinet has already approved Fast Track LNG Import Terminal which is being constructed as per an agreed time-frame and is expected to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2015.
The ECC was informed that the existing gas infrastructure was not designed to transport large quantities of gas from southern to northern regions of the country as it lacks capacity to handle any additional volume of gas supplies. This project is critical for supply of RLNG to the proposed gas fired power plants in northern Pakistan.
The fast-track implementation of pipeline infrastructure projects is therefore an essential requirement to transport the additional volumes of gas well before the completion of LNG terminals at Gwadar and transnational gas pipeline projects. Both gas utility companies of Pakistan are engaged in augmentation of their gas pipeline infrastructure for receiving the additional volumes of gas into their system. Keeping in view the anticipated gas supplies, consideration is being given to undertake the laying of North-South Gas Pipeline (about 1100KM-long) from Karachi to Lahore. Not only will the Pipeline only enable the ministry to efficiently transport imported RLNG, it will also give transport capabilities for the Iran-Pakistan and TAPI gas pipeline projects which are expected to come online in the next 3 to 5 years. The Ministry of Petroleum stated that the project would be capable of transporting 1.2 BCFD of gas from Karachi to mid-country.