Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's decision to approve 97 natural gas expansion schemes, a majority of which are meant for the ruling party’s political base — Punjab — is a "source of discontent" and may affect national harmony in the country, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Tuesday in a letter addressed to the prime minister.

Shah was expressing his concerns about the approval of new gas schemes worth more than Rs37 billion for "politically selected areas".

The 97 schemes were all approved after the prime minister recently relaxed a moratorium on the expansion of gas supply schemes in Punjab. Out of the total, 77 schemes — recommended by lawmakers from the PML-N — were meant for Punjab.

"Expansion of new gas network in Punjab, which produces only about 3 per cent of gas but consumes over 42pc of the total gas produced in the country, is in complete disregard of Article 158 of the Constitution," reads Shah's letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com.

According to Article 158 of the Constitution, titled ‘Priority of requirements of natural gas’: “The province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from the well-head.”

The chief minister said the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) has been denying requests for new gas connections in Sindh's urban and rural areas citing the moratorium imposed by the federal government.

"The company has even declined supply of gas to Khairpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which is Pakistan's first industrial park with SEZ status," he wrote.

Shah said SSGCL is still trying to complete gas schemes in Sindh's rural areas which were funded by the Government of Sindh in 2012, while thousands of applications for new connections are pending in the urban centres of the province.

He urged the premier to direct the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to implement Article 158 in letter and spirit and "refrain from diverting natural gas from Sindh".

The chief minister also requested Sharif to lift the moratorium on new gas connections and direct SSGCL to provide gas connections to all domestic, industrial and commercial sectors in Sindh.

Lahore-based SNGPL and Punjab in particular have been facing an acute gas shortage, particularly in winter months, Dawn newspaper reported.

This is because Punjab produces only 3pc or 121 MMcfd (million cubic feet per day) of the country’s total natural gas output and consumes about 42pc, or 1,154MMcfd to be precise.

Compared to this, Sindh produces 2,511MMcfd, about 64pc of all domestically-produced gas, and consumes around 1,256MMcfd, or 46pc. Likewise, Balochistan has a 17pc (680MMcfd) share in gas production against its 2pc (51MMcfd) consumption.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the other hand, has a fairly equitable share both in gas production and consumption at 10pc and 9pc, respectively.

To know which lawmakers are beneficiaries of gas expansion schemes, click here.