No decision on closure of CNG outlets

Negotiations between government and CNG Association end in failure as they can not agree on closure of CNG stations.

Negotiations between the government and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Association ended in a failure on Monday as they could not agree on the number of days per week for the closure of CNG stations.

In a meeting with Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Naveed Qamar, held at Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) office in Lahore, government representatives said the outlets should stay closed for two days a week because of natural gas shortages during winter.

However, the association said it could not afford to shut more than a day and warned of staging a strike if the demand was not met.

Chairman All Pakistan CNG Dealers Association Ghayas Paracha said CNG stations could not be closed even for a single day as 30 million people would be affected. He said CNG dealers had demanded that the outlets were supplied with gas on a regular basis as they paid more compared to others.

Talking to media, Qamar said gas outages would take place across the country and there would be no exception. However, domestic consumers would be exempted.

He said the issue would be taken up in the Economic Coordination Committee meeting, expected to be held next week, after taking views of consumers. The ministry would try to maintain gas supply to all sectors but keeping in view the gap between demand and supply.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2010.