CNG stations to stay shut for 18 hours in Sindh

Sui Southern Co says decision taken after approval of station owners.

KARACHI:

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), in accordance with the federal government’s gas load management plan, has decided to shut down gas supplies to compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in Karachi and other cities of Sindh from 11 pm on December 8 (Thursday) to 5 pm on December 9 (Friday).

The decision to stop supply to CNG stations for 18 hours was taken after a meeting between SSGC management, office-bearers and members of CNG associations at the company’s head office on Wednesday, an SSGC press release said.

At the meeting, SSGC requested the CNG industry stakeholders to stop their operations for 18 hours in view of the winter load caused by additional consumption of gas in northern parts of Sindh and the entire Balochistan.

SSGC management reiterated that the closure has become indispensable to prevent the company’s line pack to fall substantially on December 10, which may put the entire distribution system under heavy strain and cause pressure to drop substantially.

The company, however, did not say if CNG stations will have to go offline again in coming weeks. Around 550 CNG stations will be closed in the wake of the decision.

The leader of CNG station owners association, Junaid Esmail, said gas consumption from the pumps has gone up tremendously over the past few months. “Around 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas was being consumed earlier. Now it has jumped to 90 mmcfd.”

This is because of the large shift of heavy vehicles, especially public buses, to CNG as the government continues to increase the price of alternative fuel – diesel, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2011.