Full throttle: Punjab to turn its back on gas holidays

Gas load-shedding hours to be reduced in Sindh to 24 hours.

ISLAMABAD:

An agreement has been reached in principle on making compressed natural gas (CNG) available at Punjab’s filling stations throughout the week – but only during the day time. On Sundays, however, gas will be supplied round the clock to CNG stations in the province.

“The All Pakistan CNG Association and the federal government have agreed in principle on all the issues and the petroleum minister will soon announce the details,” a top industry representative said.

The new agreement came at a marathon meeting between petroleum ministry officials and office-bearers of the APCNGA.

The province is likely to view the proposed arrangement as a windfall, especially since CNG supplies are currently restricted to just 72 hours a week.

The industry representatives told ministry officials that CNG stations in Punjab should get supplies all through the week in the day time. Such an arrangement would provide wide relief to gas-starved consumers as well as bail out the industry, they said.

“CNG supplies may be ensured from 8am to 4pm after consultation with the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd in a meeting scheduled on Monday,” one participant of the meeting told The Express Tribune.

APCNGA’s Supreme Council Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said the federal government has started fulfilling its pre-election promise of relieving consumers and sparing them long queues at CNG stations. “Natural gas will be provided to CNG filling stations across Punjab seven days a week for a specific period while the flow will continue uninterrupted on Sundays,” Paracha said in a statement

At the same time, gas load-shedding hours in Sindh would be reduced to 24 hours while elsewhere in the country it would be cut gradually, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2014.