LAHORE: Despite assurances from the petroleum minister, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has been unable to re-start gas supply to industries, which was scheduled to resume from Wednesday, citing delay in supply from the Kunnar-Pasakhi gas field.
The SNGPL network was expected to receive 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas from the Kunnar-Pasakhi field on Wednesday, but it was delayed. The company has informed the industries about the delay and asked them to wait until fresh volume is added to the system.
Last week, Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain assured the protesting industrialists that they would be provided gas for two days a week.
“The 50 mmcfd of gas could not be added to the system due to some technical reasons, but it will be received soon. New gas fields often encounter such technical issues,” said SNGPL General Manager Sales Rehan Nawaz while talking to The Express Tribune.
However, he cautioned that even after the gas was received from the new field, it would be difficult to ensure supply to industries in January as demand from residential consumers had increased by 150 mmcfd in the past one week mainly due to snowfall in northern areas.
“SNGPL is currently facing a demand-supply gap of around 850 mmcfd, making it difficult for us to supply without any interruption to residential consumers, who are our priority,” Nawaz said. “The company is also continuously supplying 100 mmcfd to national defence institutions.”
He pointed out that when textile millers met with the minister last week, the situation was different, but “now snowfall has increased the load.”
The company does not have enough gas for industries and is working to make more zones in consultation with all stakeholders to manage gas load in an efficient manner. “This process will be completed soon,” he said.
Reacting to the development, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Punjab Chapter President Ahsan Bashir alleged SNGPL was not interested in providing gas for industries in January as the sector was never a priority for it, “We think this is just a lame excuse, which will continue until the weather improves,” he said.
“We also tried to contact the Punjab governor and the petroleum minister, but to no avail. They told us to run our units on alternative means despite the fact that all industrial expansion in previous years was done on the basis of gas supply as Wapda could not supply electricity to industries,” Bashir added.
He said the industries had to meet export orders and would hold a meeting shortly to chart a future course of action.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2012.
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“SNGPL is currently facing a demand-supply gap of around 850 mmcfd, making it difficult for us to supply without any interruption to residential consumers, who are our priority,” Nawaz said. “The company is also continuously supplying 100 mmcfd to national defence institutions.”
ITS THERE ANY KIND OF INDUSTRY THERE?
@Sindhi... dont say like this... we are pakistanies, plz change ur thinking and behave like a pakistani, rather then sindhi, balochi.... think if Punjab behave like u and said we are not going to give wheat to sindh.. then?
@sindhi: Dude, before complaining to others, better try to get electricity from the largest reserves of Coal.
alas again 50 mmscfd shall be given to pujbis and pathans either sindh producing 69% of total country gas and we get 25% less gas from our due share and there are many villages in the sindh which still even cant get the gas, dont do this injsutice to us give us controll of our natural reserviors and jobs other wise we sindhi going to becom a new balochistan for you dont deprived us any more its enough now, wo are bearing this situation from 64 years and now its going to become culminate point and we sindhis are soleman at this point and dont detract our resources any more