LAHORE: The regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) supply to the Punjab industrial and CNG sectors was temporarily suspended on Thursday after the ship carrying the liquefied natural gas could not berth at the Port Qasim due to low tides.

“The system, which was already facing a shortage due to delayed arrival of the ship carrying the LNG on the order placed by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), was supposed to have adequate supply. Though the ship arrived but it couldn’t get berthing at the Port Qasim, leaving the authorities with no option but to wait for the high tide that will enable the ship to berth,” a senior official explained while talking to Dawn.

The RLNG supply to industrial and CNG sectors in Punjab was cut for the second time in the current month. Before this, the RLNG supply was suspended to these sectors due to blowing up of the pipeline allegedly by the miscreants at Bhong Road near Sadiqabad on Jan 9 (Wednesday). However, the RLNG supply to the aforementioned sectors was restored on Jan 11 after the damaged portion of the pipeline was repaired.

“Some days ago, we had 550mmcf of the LNG in the system, which later was reduced to 225mmcf. And finally it was reduced to 120mmcf till Thursday morning. On Thursday, we were supposed to have adequate quantity of LNG due to arrival of the ship. But, unfortunately, the ship couldn’t get berthing,” the official maintained. He said nothing was sure about the high tides.

The official said the PSO and Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) used to supply the LNG to two private sector’s LNG terminals at Port Qasim.

“The PSO places the order to have about six LNG consignments through ships per month. Similarly, the PLL gets two or three consignments per month,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) urged the government to restore gas for the industrial sector to avoid loss in production and gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

In a statement, the LCCI members said the gas was the primary fuel for the industry and its unavailability would stop the wheel of industrial sector that will put the employment of millions and exports revenue at stake.

“We have received a notice from the Sui Northern gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) about cutting the RLNG supplies to the industry for indefinite period due to ship berthing issue. Let’s see when the Punjab industry, which is already facing issues due to time to time suspension of gas, is supplied RLNG,” said a businessman.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019