CNG stations call off strike in Punjab

Government agrees to gas curtailment in proportion to consumption.

ISLAMABAD:

Retail gas stations have called off a strike in Punjab after having received assurances from the government that the gas supply disruptions would be distributed evenly among all consumers in proportion to their consumption, though domestic consumers will be exempted from this arrangement.

The All Pakistan Compressed Natural Gas Association (APCNGA) on Friday called off the strike across Punjab after a meeting of the Gas Load Management Committee presided over by Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar made the decision.

“We have decided to open filling stations after the unanimous decision in the gas load management committee that gas load-shedding would be shared by all stakeholders except the domestic sector and review the situation in a realistic way,” said APCNGA Chairman Ghiyas Paracha.

The government has formed a committee which will analyse consumption data for natural gas and make recommendations for the curtailment of gas supplies based on consumption. The CNG sector is particularly hopeful that the calculations will work out in their favour since CNG stations consume less than 5 per cent of the gas consumed in the province. However, that data includes domestic consumers, who are excluded from the redistribution plan.

The committee formed to make recommendations on a new plan does not include representation from the APCNGA and instead comprises representatives from gas distribution companies, the textile industry, the power sector and the petroleum ministry.

The committee will meet on Monday to assess the data available to them and craft a strategy for managing the chronic shortage of natural gas in the country.

CNG station owners say that they their sector needs 260 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas, whereas they were being supplied
203 mmcfd.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th,  2011.