PESHAWAR: The Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) on Thursday announced that CNG stations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won’t get natural gas for a month from today (Friday).

SNGPL general manager Waqas Shinwari told Dawn that his organisation had decided about the suspension of gas supply to filling stations to meet household demand and would enforce the decision with the help of district administrations as required by the law.

He said there was a gas shortage in the chilly weather, so the gas utility held three meetings with the CNG Association on Thursday to get it on board regarding the closure of CNG stations.

Also in the day, the SNGPL formally requested the deputy commissioners of several districts in the province for “assistance in load curtailment and closure of CNG stations to meet domestic demands.”

SNGPL says move will help meet household gas demand

In a letter separately sent to DCs, the gas utility said there was an acute shortage of gas in the province due to a huge gap between demand and supply.

“In order to meet load requirements of domestic consumers, supply of gas to the CNG sector has been planned to be curtailed completely in line with the government policy regarding prioritizing domestic consumers,” the letter read.

The SNGPL asked the deputy commissioners to extend their support by imposing Section 144 to ban the operation of CNG stations from 6am on Jan 5, 2024, to Jan 31, 2023, in the “public interest so that the domestic need can be met through proper curtailment of gas to CNG sector.”

It also requested the district administrations to provide the gas utility with the assistance in carrying out physical disconnection of CNG stations as well.

“Without the closure of the CNG sector, the SNGPL’s gas supply system may collapse and we will not be able to meet the domestic demand in the province which can generate extreme public unrest and may lead to public protest,” the letter read.

At the request of the gas utility, the deputy commissioner of Mardan on Thursday evening imposed Section 144 in the district restricting the operation of the local CNG stations until Jan 31.

The order issued by the DC read, “All CNG stations in the district Mardan will remain closed from January 5 to January 31. Anyone found violating this order will be punished under section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.”

Peshawar’s district administration, too, is likely to restrict the operation of CNG stations in the provincial capital “anytime soon,” a local official told Dawn.

When contacted, Fazal Muqim, president of the KP CNG Association, said the SNGPL had informed the association about its decision to suspend gas supply to filling stations across the province.

He said the association didn’t agree to the move as it would ruin CNG business.

Mr Muqim wondered how the suspension of gas supply to CNG stations would benefit domestic consumers, who are “already not getting natural gas.”

“The closure of CNG stations in our province is a ruse to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to industrial units in Punjab,” he said.

The association leader complained that the restriction was KP-specific as CNG stations in Punjab would continue to operate.

He claimed that there was no gas issue at all, while the weather, too, was not that bad as claimed by the SNGPL.

“Around 550 CNG stations in our province pay over Rs8.5 billion to the SNGPL for 50mmcfd of gas a month,” he said.

Mr Muqim said the association’s members had no option but to protest the suspension of gas supply to CNG stations.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2024