LAHORE, Jan 8: The Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL) for the first time on Monday ordered two fertiliser plants located in Multan and Sheikhupura to shut down their operations to save 100mmcf of gas to partially bridge the ever-widening gap of 300mmcf between supply and demand in upcountry areas owing to extremely cold weather.

“We have told Pak-Arab Fertilisers in Multan and Dawood Hercules in Sheikhupura to close down their plants, and they have already reduced their consumption by 50 per cent. By Tuesday, both the plants will be closed down completely,” a senior SNGPL official told this reporter.

However, the official said the closure of the two plants and saving of 100mmcf of gas did not mean that the gas supply would be restored to the general industry, including export-oriented units.

“We are faced with a situation in which the gap between supply and demand of gas in upcountry areas – Punjab and the NWFP – has widened to 300mmcf per day because of increased domestic demand owing to extreme cold weather. Thus the situation does not allow us to resume supplies to the general industry even after the suspension of supply to the fertiliser plants,” he said.

The SNGPL has already suspended supply to 200 industrial units, including cement, glass, paper and export-oriented textile, saving around 250mmcf of gas.

“You see the suspension of gas to 200 general industrial units and two fertiliser companies barely makes up for the demand and supply gap,” the SNGPL official said.

The gas supply to the fertiliser companies has been cut off in the light of a decision taken by the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) last year.

The ECC had decided that the fertiliser plants would be closed down for their annual general maintenance operations during winter when the demand and consumption for the fuel reaches its peak.

The decision was made in order to provide relief to the export-oriented industries, which have to shut down their production because of suspension of gas supply for days every year.

The SNGPL official said the company would immediately reinstate supply to the general industry as soon as the cold wave recedes and demand for gas reduces in the next few days to come.

Exporters have expressed their dismay over the SNGPL decision not to provide relief to the export-oriented units, saying the suspension of gas supply to them would hit their efforts to increase exports.

They said the SNGPL had delayed suspension of gas supply to fertiliser plants by several days.

“Earlier, the public utility had announced to stop gas supply to the fertiliser units from Dec 20. It was later deferred till Jan 1. And now when the company has finally suspended supply to the fertiliser plants, it is not providing immediate relief to the exporters,” said a dejected textile exporter.