A crisis-like situation in the gas sector re-emerged in various parts of the country as a large number of factories in Sindh and Punjab are forced to suspend production while domestic consumers complained of facing difficulty in cooking food or heating water because of gas outages as well as low pressure, a survey conducted by Business Recorder revealed.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has adjusted the gas supply to the domestic consumers as well as power sector as 11.6 percent of more gas has been injected in the system. "Against 266 mmcfd 2018, 344 mmcfd gas was injected in the system in December 2019 while 470 mmcfd would be injected in the system in January 2020. But still consumption is too high to be met in wake of cold weather," an official of SNGPL said.
In Sindh, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) states, "Due to a drop in pressure in SSGC gas system, domestic and commercial customers will face inconvenience in fulfilling their gas related needs. In this regard, in order to cater to the needs of domestic customers, curtailment of gas supply to CNG stations has been extended till Friday (December 27)."
Leaders representing Karachi Industrial Forum and members of different textile bodies have reportedly criticized both gas companies, SNGPL and SSGCL, on Thursday last over its failure to supply gas to industrial units and warned of protests in case the SSGC fails to restore gas at normal pressure.
The closure of gas supply to industrial (excluding export-oriented industry) and CNG sectors in Punjab and the federal capital is part of winter load management plan 2019-20 of the SNGPL.
The federal government allowed CNG sector to import RLNG in November 2019 but delay in completion of procedural work by SNGPL denied the timely shipment of LNG to meet the consumption of CNG sector.
Senior leader and central chairman of All Pakistan CNG Association, Ghiyas Paracha expressed his concern on the situation, saying that closure of CNG stations will lead to further increase in gas prices as expensive LNG is being provided to low tariff sectors that will lead to closure of businesses and generate unemployment.
He emphasized that CNG stations should be switched from cheap local gas to expensive RLNG as they were assured continuity of the supplies. He added that 1,100 CNG station owners deposited Rs 1.2 million each as advance payment in order to ensure continuous supply of gas but after depositing billions of rupees in the government kitty, the CNG sector has, once again, been deprived of the imported gas whereas the same gas is being provided to the low tariff sectors.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019