Rs10b package prepared to lay pipeline in K-P

Move aimed at preventing gas theft, reducing losses

ISLAMABAD: The government has prepared a package of Rs10 billion for laying gas distribution pipelines in the surrounding localities of MOL field in Karak district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to regularise supplies and curb unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) losses, a senior official privy to petroleum-sector developments told APP.

"Recently, a Rs10-billion package has been approved by the Economic Coordination Committee for laying gas distribution lines," he said.

Unlike the Sui gas field, he said, the energy source was not provided to the surrounding localities of the MOL field, which led to an increase in theft and the UFG ratio.

In line with the government strategy to reduce line losses, he said, SNGPL - which provides gas to consumers in K-P and Punjab - was taking measures to check UFG losses gradually in coming years.

Commenting on SNGPL's ongoing anti-theft drive, the official said inspection of all industrial, commercial and domestic consumers was being carried out regularly to prevent stealing of gas.

Similarly, he said Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) was inducting law officers and lawyers for effective handling of gas theft cases.

Answering a question, the official said the drive against gas pilferage had started yielding desired results as the two state-owned companies - SSGC and SNGPL - had managed to reduce UFG losses by around Rs1.95 billion, which stood at Rs50 billion annually.

The companies, he said, were carrying out the anti-theft operation with zero tolerance across the country, which helped reduce the UFG ratio drastically and saved millions of rupees. Responding to another question, he said during the tenure of previous government, the UFG losses rose 1% every year, which resulted in a loss of Rs154 billion to the companies and a hike in gas tariffs.

"The PTI government has devised an effective strategy to curb the UFG ratio under which the companies are removing service lines of those consumers whose gas connections are neither intact nor enrolled in the monthly billing system," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2020.

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