LAHORE: Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company (SNGPL) suspended gas supply to the CNG and textile units in the Punjab on Monday. This was due to the annual maintenance of four gas fields, the SNGPL spokesperson said.
Several vehicle owners and CNG station operators claimed that they were not informed about the suspension of supply ahead of time. “We faced a lot of problems because of that,” Muhammad Ishaq, a CNG station owner said.
A senior SNGPL official requesting anonymity said the SNGPL was yet to communicate its decision regarding the resumption of gas supply. If gas pressure did not pick up before Eid, fuel stations won’t be able to supply CNG to consumers, he said.
The system lost 113 MMCFD after the SNGPL began maintenance of four gas fields. Dakhni lost 33 MMCFD, Kunar Pashaki 60 MMCFD, Hassan 5 MMCFD and Badar 13 MMCFD.
Gas supply to textile processing, captive power and CNG sectors was suspended on Monday.
The SNGPL spokesperson said that maintenance would be complete by the next CNG supply cycle. Supply to textile units and fuel stations will resume next Thursday, he said.
Several motorists complained about the unannounced suspension of CNG. Muhammad Safdar, a motorist who arrived at a filling station at around 5:30am on Monday, said that he had arrived at the filling station ahead of the official time [6am] to beat the long queues but was told that it had been suspended due to low gas pressure.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2014.
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