No decision made to only supply gas thrice a day to domestic consumers: energy ministry
Energy ministry denies reports of a schedule; says SNGPL told to ensure provision of gas to consumers during meal times
November 14, 2021
- Ministry of energy shoots down reports of schedule being prepared for supply of gas.
Says SNGPL was told however to ensure gas supply during meal times.
Sources say gas will be supplied to Punjab, KP consumers thrice a day.
The Ministry of Energy on Sunday shot down reports that any decision had been taken to supply gas only thrice a day to domestic consumers.
In a statement of clarification issued in response to media reports, the division said: "Various news channels are reporting misleading news that domestic consumers will only be provided gas thrice a day."
"The Ministry of Energy has made no such decision," the statement said.
It said that Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), which supplies gas to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has however been instructed to ensure provision of gas to domestic consumers during meal times.
Meanwhile, SNGPL issued a clarification and said that "no schedule has been issued by SNGPL regarding gas outage[...]".
Taking to Twitter, SNGPL refuted the reports of gas outage and supply timings and said that all such reports are wrong.
The company requested all the stakeholders to enlighten the masses with the actual situation.
Gas supply in Punjab, KP
On the other hand, sources told Geo News that domestic consumers in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be supplied gas thrice a day, at the following times:
Morning: 5:30am-8:30am
Afternoon: 11:30am-2pm
Evening: 4pm-10pm
The sources said that the schedule will go into effect in December and will last until February.
Gas supply to be ensured at breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today's developments follow a statement on Friday by Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, who said that the supply of gas will be ensured for domestic consumers during breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours.
His remarks came during a discussion in Senate over an expected gas crisis in the winter months with Azhar denying rumours about the provision of gas only three days a week.
"For the first time, the government is trying to ensure gas supply three times each day," said Azhar.
He informed the Senate that Pakistan will soon strike a gas deal with Russia and that the repair of gas pipelines is underway.
The minister further added that the country produces 70% of gas for consumption while the remaining 30% is fulfilled with LNG.
“Sindh produces 38%, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produces 12%, Punjab produces 8% while Balochistan produces 40% of the country’s entire gas,” said Azhar.
He said that 80% of the gas produced by Sindh is consumed by the province itself, while KP consumes 79% of the gas it produces.
When asked if people will be able to fry an egg during the gas shortage, Azhar responded positively.
Domestic, industrial consumers to face gas shortage
Earlier this week, The News reported that the Pakistan government has decided to continue gas supply to the power and fertiliser sectors, while domestic and industrial consumers will suffer shortages amid a major gas shortfall in the country during the winter season.
The decision was made by the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) during a meeting on Thursday which was chaired by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar.
The CCOE decided supply of gas to "dedicated" consumers, including power and fertiliser plants, would remain stable, the publication reported.
The power plants on Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited supply, which provides gas to Punjab and KP, will be provided RLNG during 2021-22 with additional supply. The deficit of the power sector will be recouped through furnace oil. Any gas saved from captive power plants will be diverted towards export-oriented industries.
The total availability of gas from domestic resources stands at 3,300 mmcfd, while with the import of RLNG, there is another 1,000 mmcfd gas coming into the system, the publication reported, citing official sources. There is a maximum gas supply available in the range of 4,300 mmcfd against the average demand of 6,500 to 7,000 mmcfd. In the severe winter season, this demand goes up to 8,000 mmcfd.
Why is a gas crisis expected again this year?
Pakistan is expected to be hit by a major gas crisis this year like every year for several reasons, according to official sources.
One of the reasons is that local discoveries of gas have witnessed a dip, so the domestic gas reserves are depleting, the sources explained, adding that the local gas supply stood at 4,300 mmcfd a few years back but now it has depleted and stands at 3,300 mmcfd.
The import of RLNG also faced snags and Pakistan used to add 1,200 mmcfd gas through RLNG a few years ago, but is now going to add just 1,000 mmcfd of gas.
“There is a need to ascertain why two RLNG terminals could not be set up. If they were there, the country could have imported 1,200 mmcfd more gas through RLNG,” the official sources said.
