ISLAMABAD, July 29: The Sui Northern Gas Company (SNGPL) has sought a 7.78 per cent increase in its tariff with retrospective effect from July 1, 2001 to meet its revenue shortfall of Rs2.75 billion.

SNGPL managing director Rashid Lone informed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Monday that it required a tariff increase of Rs30.56 per hundred cubic meters, or Rs8.611 per MCF, to meet its financial projections.

The public hearing of the SNGPL’s tariff petition was adjourned for Tuesday after the first session due to the ailment of Ogra chairman Munir Ahmad.

The SNGPL’s existing tariff is around Rs110.61 per million cubic feet (MCF) which would increase to Rs119.22 per MCF if the request is accepted. The SNGPL is supplying gas to consumers in Punjab, the NWFP and some parts of Sindh.

The total gas sales arrears of the company amounted to Rs8.6 billion as on June 30, 2002 against Rs8.8 billion on June 30, 2001, and Rs5.9 billion in 2000. The unaccounted for gas amounted to 8.13pc in 2002 against 8.87pc in 2001 and 9.81pc in 2000.

The company has launched a Rs12.4bn gas infrastructure development plan to lay a 353km pipeline for supplying an additional 525m cubic feet per day gas by Feb 2004 from Sui and newly discovered fields in the south to power plants near Multan.

This additional gas supply would substitute imported furnace oil at Kot Addu and Rousch power plants. The replacement of about 4.47 million tons of furnace oil by the local additional gas supply would effect an annual savings of about $500 million.

CHALLENGED: Meanwhile, an intervener, Bestway Cement, challenged the authority of Ogra to start public hearing of the tariff petitions of gas utilities until it had a full quorum as defined under the Ogra Ordinance 2002.