Minister orders uninterrupted gas supply for public during winter

ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik on Monday instructed gas companies to take all measures necessary to maintain a steady winter supply for domestic consumers.

Chairing a meeting on seasonal gas load management, Malik said that all necessary steps must be taken to facilitate the public during the winter months and confirmed that gas companies had been issued the required instructions in this regard.

According to a statement, the managing directors of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) briefed the minister on gas availability across the country.

The meeting also reviewed the issuance of RLNG domestic connections, the statement added.

Malik noted that the domestic gas supply this year was "significantly better" compared to last winter.

SNGPL’s managing director informed the meeting that consumers were receiving gas not only during mealtimes but also from 5am to 10pm. Malik said the improvement in supply had been made with public convenience as the key priority.

Officials from the Petroleum Division, SNGPL, SSGC and OGRA attended the meeting.

The gas load shedding in recent years has become a major political and social concern. More than industry, it is the gas supply to households that has been flagged as an issue.

Pakistan has 0.4% of global gas reserves and accounts for 1.1% of the global consumption, according to the Worldometer’s country reserves data.

The gas is distributed through pipelines to households, which claim 50% of available supplies, followed by the fertiliser sector, independent power plants and industrial and CNG sectors.

Last month, the federal government formally launched the process to provide Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) connections to domestic consumers across the country, marking the resumption of new household gas supplies after a four-year suspension.

The government had imposed a ban on new gas connections in 2021 due to rapidly depleting natural gas reserves, forcing many households to shift to more expensive alternatives such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking and heating.