Industrial sector: SNGPL increases gas outages to four days

Supply level drops to 170 mmcfd against demand of 350 mmcfd.

FAISALABAD:

In yet another blow to the industry, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on Saturday increased gas outages from three days to four days for the industrial sector, multiplying woes of the exporters who are already struggling to meet deadlines ahead of Christmas.

The SNGPL issued a notice here informing about the suspension of gas supply to the industrial sector in Faisalabad region from 72 hours to 96 hours. An SNGPL official said the Faisalabad region was facing serious gas shortage due to reduced availability of gas in winter season. He said now the shortages have reached to 170 million metric cubic feet (mmcf) per day.

The gas requirement of Faisalabad region is 350 mmcfd per day. However, against the available demand, supply has come down to180 million metric cubic feet per day, causing a shortage of 170 mmcfd. Due to this shortfall, SNGPL has extended the limit of suspension of gas supply from three to four days, he added.

This has happened after the Petroleum Ministry decided to resume gas supply to the fertilisers sector to overcome the urea crises in the country, he added.

Pakistan Textile Exports Association Chairman Rana Arif Tauseef told The Express Tribune that the three-day gas load-shedding had already caused a 35% decline in exports orders and due to four days gas outages, the exports would decline 50%.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2011.