The government of Pakistan have decided on Monday to stop gas supplies to CNG stations and industries for one day every week to increase power generation.
While the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines has announced that CNG stations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwan will remain closed for 24 hours (from 6am on Tuesday to 6am on Wednesday), the Sui Southern Gas Company has set up a committee to decide a day for shutdown.
The day-off in industries will be on a rotation basis.
Dealers of CNG in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwan have accepted the decision on the condition that benefits of gas curtailment should be visible in two weeks. “If there is no let-up in electricity load-shedding by May 3, we will not observe the shutdown,” All Pakistan CNG Association chairman Ghayas Paracha told Dawn.
He said the association had given proposals to save electricity, but the government did not accept them.
The SSGC management held a meeting with trade bodies in Karachi on Monday night and decided to set up a committee to finalize a gas day-off for Sindh and Balochistan. The committee is expected to announce its decision on Tuesday evening. Malik Khuda Buksh, a member of the committee, told Dawn that the curtailment of gas would lead to higher petrol consumption and its import. “It’s not a wise policy.”
The SSGC expects to save 10mmcfd (million cubic feet) of gas from the day-off in the CNG sector and another 40mmcfd from industries. Its spokesman said the gas saved would be transferred to KESC and Jamshoro and Kotri power stations for power generation.
The SSGC will also reduce gas supplies to the fertiliser sector by around 20 per cent.
In a recent meeting with Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Naveed Qamar, CNG industry officials said that only 35mmcfd gas would be saved by curtailing gas to the CNG sector. This includes 25mmcfd from the SNGPL system and 10mmcfd from SSGC.
In his presentation to the minister, Ghayas Paracha said that 35mmcfd gas would generate a negligible 140MW whereas the shortfall was 5,500MW. Mr Paracha told Dawn said that were 2,500 CNG stations in the country. The government, he said, could easily save up to 200MW by completely cutting off power supply to CNG stations and allowing them to convert to captive power generation.
source by Dawn news
Humara Pakistan 