KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) has stopped gas supply to CNG stations in Sindh for 176 hours starting from 12am (June 22) to 9am (June 29) owing to gas shortfall.

The company had informed station owners that it was facing a shortfall of 160MMCFD due to annual turnaround of Kunnar Passahi field at Tando Allahyar, causing decline in gas availability resulting in depletion of line pack and low pressure in the system.

The company said CNG supply the stations had been shut to meet the demand of domestic consumers.

The coordinator Sindh Zone of the All Pakistan CNG Association, Samir Najmul Hussain, expressed surprise that Sindh, being the main producer of gas, is facing a crisis which is injustice to consumers and station owners.

He said SSGCL had informed station owners that it had taken the decision as per order issued by the federal government.

Mr Hussain said the utility company had assured station owners of no gas loadshedding after switching over to RLNG, but gas crisis still looms large.

He said captive power units continue to get gas.

He said CNG stations in Sindh are consuming only 28MMCFD of gas out of SSGCL’s supply network of 1,250MMCFD but the CNG stations are the first to face closure despite very low consumption.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2021