Sindh giving ‘political colour’ to ‘gas issue’: SAPM

Says he had presented complete production and consumption data of June 2020 of Sindh in the meeting of CCI in August

ISLAMABAD:

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar on Tuesday stated that the Sindh government was trying to give “political colour” to a “serious economic issue” by presenting “distorted and misleading” figures about the production and supply of gas in the province.         

Addressing a news conference along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz after the federal cabinet meeting, the SAPM noted that the Sindh chief minister, in a letter written to Prime Minister Imran Khan, had mentioned that the province produced around 2,500-2,600 MMCFD (Million Cubic Feet per Day) gas and received only 1,000 MMCFD gas, which was contrary to the factual position.         

He termed the letter a willful attempt by the CM to give a “political colour” to a “serious economic issue”.       

On Monday, the Sindh CM had written a letter to the premier voicing fears of an untoward situation developing in Sindh, especially in Karachi over exacerbating gas crisis in the province.

In the letter, available with The Express Tribune, the CM held the “negligent” and “callous” attitude of the federal government responsible for the prolonged crisis.

The SAPM in his news conference said he had presented complete production and consumption data of June 2020 of Sindh in the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) in August but despite that, the Sindh CM wrote the letter to the premier.

According to the June data, he said, Sindh was producing around 2,025 MMCFD gas, out of which 1,562 was being consumed in the province directly through the network of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), while around 463 MMCFD gas was allocated to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), out of which 202 MMCFD gas was returned to Sindh in the form of supply to two power plants and a fertiliser production unit.         

The SAPM pointed out that the remaining 261 MMCFD gas was going out of the province.

"I have mentioned the number for June 2020. Today the number [of gas production in Sindh] has further declined due to depletion in the existing reserves," he added.          

Besides, he said, around 150 MMCFD Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) was being provided to the province, adding if this too was detected from the 261 MMCFD gas, then only around 100 MMCFD gas of Sindh was going out of the province.          

He said the Sindh government was not ready to recognise the gas supply being provided to the captive power and fertiliser plants operating in the province, saying it was no less than a “joke”.

Babar said the provincial government had caused a delay of one-and-a-half years in the construction of a 17-kilomter gas pipeline by not giving “Right of Way” to the SSGC, which was meant to transport additional supply from the port Qasim.          

In October, he said, the Sindh government had allowed construction of the pipeline, which the SSGC completed on December 24.            

Commenting on the LNG procurement, the SAPM said the government had procured 12 cargoes for the month of January at the cheapest price, adding that domestic consumption of gas had increased 2.5-fold on the network of SNGPL and 2-fold on the SSGC system.          

Babar reiterated that there was no planned load shedding for domestic, commercial or industrial sectors in any part of the country, but admitted the issue of pressure drops especially at tail ends of the line due to severe cold wave.          

However, he said, the gas supply was being curtailed for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector and captive power plants for three to four days to ensure smooth supply of the commodity to domestic consumers.          

He said the last week of December and the first two weeks of January were considered a peak time of the winter season, adding after January 15 the supply situation would start improving gradually.       

With input from APP