KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) on Monday announced that it will suspend gas supplies to all the CNG stations across Sindh and Balochistan from midnight Sept 14 for four days.

The company said supplies to CNG stations will be restored from 8am (Sept 18).

The decision to suspend gas supply to CNG outlets was taken due to dry-docking (change of FSRU at Engro Terminal) that would take place from Sept 14 to 17. As a result, SSGC’s RLNG intake would be reduced from 150 to 75mmcfd.

Domestic and commercial customers, however, will face no interruption in gas supplies, the statement added.

Supply to KE, Sindh Nooriabad Power Company and FFBQL will also be partially reduced

Moreover, gas supplies to K-Electric, Sindh Nooriabad Power Company and FFBQL would also be partially reduced. In case if these reductions are not able to cover the gas shortfall, then gas supplies to non-export industries would be curtailed, the SSGCL said.

SSGCL has requested local exploration and production companies to augment their gas productions during these four days and have assured them of providing necessary support in this regard. Due to this gas shortage there might be some chances of low pressure complaints in certain parts of Karachi.

The Senior vice chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNA), Central, Shoaib Khanjee, said CNG had lost its charm in the last one year due to its skyrocketing prices and massive shift by owners of CNG vehicles to petrol as people became upset after seeing closure of stations for longer spells in the last one year.

He said most station owners are selling CNG at Rs180 per kg while some are charging Rs165 per kg which provides negligible saving as compared to petrol.

Mr Khanjee said CNG sale in Sindh had dropped to 15-16mmcfd from 85-90mmcfd last year, while some 35 stations have been closed down recently in Sindh due to high gas prices, thin arrival of vehicles at pumps and rising operational cost of pumps.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2021