Winter gas outages to hit Punjab hard

Gas shortfall for domestic consumers is 40% on SNGPL system, says minister

ISLAMABAD: Icy winds, along with dense fog, make winters in Punjab, especially in northern and central regions, a bit harsh. But people should brace for even a harsher winter this year because they will be subjected to long duration gas outages.

This is notwithstanding the fact that Pakistan is now importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The unpleasant disclosure was made by Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources on Monday.

Currently, gas shortfall for domestic consumers is 40% on the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) system, and this gap is constantly widening, according to Abbasi. Consumers in Punjab would be facing persistent gas outages between 10pm and 5am because of the increasing shortfall.

He said the government has started implementing a gas load management plan in some districts of Punjab. “Although the government is importing LNG, it could not be used by domestic consumers.”

The committee, which met with met with Bilal Virk in the chair, also discussed the use of social welfare funds by oil and gas exploration companies.

Petroleum ministry officials informed the panel that parliamentarians were not empowered to use this fund. But provincial governments were authorised to utilise it in the areas of exploration activities on community-based social welfare projects.

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Managing Director Sheikh Imranul Haque said the company had earned a profit of Rs10.2 billion this year. The company, he said, had earned Rs21 billion in profit in 2014, which declined to Rs6.9 billion last year.

In 2014, he said, independent power producers (IPPs) had also paid mark-up on outstanding dues to PSO. “PSO’s financial health is improving,” he claimed. The firm imported petroleum products worth Rs876 billion in 2013, Rs567 billion in 2014 and Rs349 billion in 2015.

Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) Managing Director Amjad Latif said gas worth Rs10 billion had been stolen in the SNGPL region. SNGPL received 130,500 complaints of gas theft.

Because of a ban on industrial and commercial gas connections, people are not only stealing gas from domestic connections but also securing domestic gas connections and using them for industrial and commercial purposes.



The parliamentary panel suggested optical meter readings to avoid overbilling to gas consumers.

Inter State Gas Systems Managing Director Mobin Saulat said commercial contract on the Gwadar LNG pipeline with a Chinese company would be signed this month.

He said an agreement on the Gwadar LNG terminal would be signed with a Chinese company next month. He said the north-south pipeline would be laid by a Russian company on a government-to-government basis, and talks were already under way for an agreement and price. This pipeline would be completed in June 2018.

Regarding the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, he said the project would achieve financial close in June next year and gas would start flowing in December 2019.

Briefing about the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, he said that due to international sanctions against Tehran Islamabad in 2014 revoked forced Majeure under the gas sales/purchase agreement, and the ECC had approved alternative strategy of the IP project in October 2014 under which its Gawadar-Nawabshah section would be completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2016.