Supplies to fall, warns SSGC
Sui Southern Gas Company warns gas supplies will remain severely affected in coming days.
KARACHI:
The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has warned that gas supplies will remain severely affected in coming days.
Addressing an emergency press conference at the company’s headquarters on Tuesday, SSGC deputy managing director Azim Iqbal Siddiqui said, “SSGC has been receiving reduced gas supplies from six gas fields, namely Bhit, Sawan, Kadanwari, Latif, Miano and Badin fields, since October 24, 2010.” He explained that a technical problem in the Kadanwari purification plant, which serves Kadanwari, Latif and Miano fields, has hampered supplies from these fields. Moreover, the Bhit gas plant has also encountered problems in recent days as water entered the supply lines repeatedly.
As a result, the gas provider is currently receiving only 989 million metric cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas. However, Siddiqui highlighted that this supply will fall further by 204 mmcfd to just 785 mmcfd from Wednesday onwards. He explained that the annual turnaround of Zamzama gas field, scheduled between October 27th and November 4th, “will severely hamper the company’s capacity to serve industries located in Karachi’s SITE, Korangi, Landhi, Federal B. Area, North Karachi, Bin Qasim as well as Hyderabad”. He added that all relevant associations of trade and industry have already been notified about the decrease in gas supply and have been requested to curtail their usage of natural gas by 20 per cent during the stated period.
“Due to gas shortage, the supply of 63 mmcfd of gas to the Jamshoro power plant has been stopped,” SSGC spokesperson Inayatullah Ismail told The Express Tribune. “The supply to Kotri power plant has been reduced from 30 to 13 mmcfd and supply to Quetta power plant has been limited from 10 to 3 mmcfd,” he added.
The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation will also receive just 80 mmcfd of gas while the Zamzama gas field remains offline. “This is their minimum requirement which will be fulfilled and they can make up the rest of their requirement with furnace oil,” insisted Ismail. Countering KESC’s claims, he said, “Supply has been restricted because we do not have adequate gas,” adding that “it has nothing to do with the fact that KESC has not paid its dues pending towards SSGC”.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2010.
The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has warned that gas supplies will remain severely affected in coming days.
Addressing an emergency press conference at the company’s headquarters on Tuesday, SSGC deputy managing director Azim Iqbal Siddiqui said, “SSGC has been receiving reduced gas supplies from six gas fields, namely Bhit, Sawan, Kadanwari, Latif, Miano and Badin fields, since October 24, 2010.” He explained that a technical problem in the Kadanwari purification plant, which serves Kadanwari, Latif and Miano fields, has hampered supplies from these fields. Moreover, the Bhit gas plant has also encountered problems in recent days as water entered the supply lines repeatedly.
As a result, the gas provider is currently receiving only 989 million metric cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas. However, Siddiqui highlighted that this supply will fall further by 204 mmcfd to just 785 mmcfd from Wednesday onwards. He explained that the annual turnaround of Zamzama gas field, scheduled between October 27th and November 4th, “will severely hamper the company’s capacity to serve industries located in Karachi’s SITE, Korangi, Landhi, Federal B. Area, North Karachi, Bin Qasim as well as Hyderabad”. He added that all relevant associations of trade and industry have already been notified about the decrease in gas supply and have been requested to curtail their usage of natural gas by 20 per cent during the stated period.
“Due to gas shortage, the supply of 63 mmcfd of gas to the Jamshoro power plant has been stopped,” SSGC spokesperson Inayatullah Ismail told The Express Tribune. “The supply to Kotri power plant has been reduced from 30 to 13 mmcfd and supply to Quetta power plant has been limited from 10 to 3 mmcfd,” he added.
The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation will also receive just 80 mmcfd of gas while the Zamzama gas field remains offline. “This is their minimum requirement which will be fulfilled and they can make up the rest of their requirement with furnace oil,” insisted Ismail. Countering KESC’s claims, he said, “Supply has been restricted because we do not have adequate gas,” adding that “it has nothing to do with the fact that KESC has not paid its dues pending towards SSGC”.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2010.