ISLAMABAD: Amid a severe shortage of gas, the government is working on a gas management plan for winter which, among other measures, would require a political decision to divert to Punjab 100 million cubic feet per day of gas meant for a fertiliser plant in Sindh.
Sources told Dawn that Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain was expected to preside over a meeting on Friday to discuss Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's instructions to ensure that gas shortfall did not affect domestic and commercial consumers.Officials of the petroleum ministry are reported to have cautioned the minister about serious political repercussions if people in Punjab were to suffer more than those in other provinces the effects of the gas shortage.
“That will sow the seeds of polarisation and acrimony among the provinces. We should take measures to strengthen Pakistan,” an official was quoted as telling the minister.
The officials said a proposal to be discussed at the meeting was to make changes in gas allocations to provinces as an interim arrangement till the time constitutional and legal hitches were overcome for an across-the-board fair distribution.
Under the proposal, about 100mmcfd committed from the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines system to Engro Corporation's new fertiliser plant in Dharki, Sindh, could be diverted to Punjab to meet gas shortages there.
In return, Engro Fertiliser could be provided an equivalent quantity from the Sui Southern Gas Company's system.
Technically, this means that gas produced in Sindh will be utilised within the province by Engro Fertiliser and meet a legal hitch arising out of high court rulings that the province in which gas is produced has the first right to consume it.
Officials, however, agree that gas swapping between SNGPL and SSGCL was only a short-term solution and hence a long-term legal remedy would have to be found through the Council of Common Interests for change in gas distribution mechanism through other options for equitable distribution of natural gas among the provinces, in view of similar decisions by the Sindh and Peshawar high courts on utilisation of natural gas from new fields.
The courts had based their judgments on Article 158 of the Constitution which says: “The province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from the well-head, subject to commitments and obligation as on the commencing day.”
Officials said the Punjab government had raised the issue of equitable distribution of natural gas with the PPP leadership and demanded constitutional remedies although it had itself agreed under the 18th Amendment to allow utilisation of new gas in the province where it is produced.
However, the provincial government is reported to have threatened to demand suspension of 750MW of electricity produced in Punjab and being supplied to Karachi and consider exporting surplus wheat, instead of supplying to deficit provinces.
Officials said the meeting on gas load management would also take a decision on proposals to curtail gas supplies to the industrial sector for three months of winter and allocate specific quotas to CNG stations as total shortfalls were anticipated at about 2 BCFD.
The ministry believes that the passing on of entire gas shortfall to the industrial sector was the logical option given their 9-month supply contracts.
They said the industries started to enjoy uninterrupted gas supplies from 2001 to 2009 owing to negligible gap in the supply and demand situation which was no more possible and hence industrial consumers could be immediately educated about the ground situation.
The new plan is expected to come into force in the first week of December and remain in place by the third or last week of February 2012, depending on the weather.
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