RAWALPINDI: All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) on Monday said Pakistan should upgrade its infrastructure so that it could sustain Iranian gas pressure.

Iran has completed its part of the pipeline to transport 750 mmcfd gas to Pakistan while Islamabad has started laying 880-km-long pipeline but it hasn’t considered upgrading gas distribution network, said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, central leader of the APCNGA.

In a statement issued here on Monday, he said the existing old-fashioned gas infrastructure must be improved immediately otherwise all efforts to tame energy crisis through Iran gas would go down the drain.

Ghiyas Paracha said that Pakistan initiated efforts to import LNG some ten years ago but gas utilities didn’t upgrade the capacity of the pipelines which has resulted in under-utilisation of the LNG.

The LNG terminal can handle 660 mmcfd gas but the pipelines cannot transport over 325 mmcfd which is another example of mismanagement and incompetence of gas companies for which country and people are made to pay the price, he said.

He said that the LNG and Iranian gas were costly than the locally produced natural gas therefore gas companies should be asked to reduce gas losses standing at 14 per cent to internationally accepted standard of 1.5 to 2 per cent.

The business leader asked the government to take stern action against officials foiling efforts to reduce losses in transmission and distribution and contain theft of gas.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015

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