KARACHI, Oct 28: Shareholders of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) on Friday approved a 15 per cent dividend (Rs1.50 per share) of Rs10 for the year ending June 30, 2005.
The 51st annual general meeting of shareholders of SSGC also approved annual audited accounts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005. SSGC chairman Aitzaz Shahbaz presided over the meeting. Managing director Munawar Baseer Ahmad and members of the board of directors, Zahid Majid and Asif Saeed also attended.
The shareholders also unanimously approved the appointment of Taseer Hadi Khalid & Company, chartered accountants, as auditors for the financial year 2005-06.
Gas sales rose by six per cent in volume and 15 per cent in value in 2004-05. Sales volume increased to 337,638 mmcf against last year’s sales volume of 318,068 mmcf, and value to Rs54.4 billion against previous year’s value of Rs47.4 billion. An increase of 15pc was recorded in sales to the industrial sector. Sales to the power sector constituted 46 per cent of total sales, whereas KESC was the major customer and accounted for 28 per cent of the company’s sales.
The SSGC chairman stated that after the availability of additional gas from Bhit (4,997 mmcf), Badin (2,262 mmcf) and Sawan (2,433 mmcf) and the Naimat Basal gas field (15,245 mmcf), the purchase volume reached 365,810 mmcf in 2004-05, as compared to 342,336 mmcf the year before.
The company earned an after tax profit of Rs1.013 billion during the year under review, as against Rs996m the last year.
Mr Shahbaz said that in Pakistan where natural gas supply had grown at 9.4 per cent cumulatively over the past five years, the relative share of gas in the total energy mix also increased to 51.6 per cent. He was of the opinion that this would continue to remain at about 48-50 per cent over the next 25 years as projected in the National Energy Plan (NEP).
On the LNG project, a part of NEP, he said the project would add about 300 million cubic feet of gas to the company’s system capacity by 2009-10.
He added that the company had entered into gas supply contracts with BHP Petroleum, ENI and OPI for additional gas supply of about 300 mmcfd, which would likely come on stream in 2007-08. Consequently, the company has also committed a long-term 10-year gas supply to the DHA-Cogen power plant and to Al-Tuwairqi Steel, KESC’s fast track project, Textile City and two new IPPs of 150 mw each. These projects will bring foreign investment of over $1 billion to Pakistan.
