Domestic consumers will only get gas supply during cooking hours in winter
There will be severe gas shortage during winter season as consumption will increase
The state owned gas supply companies Sui Southern Gas
Company (SSGC) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) have warned the
consumers that they will face severe gas shortage during the winter season.
Sui Northern Gas
Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has made it clear that it only provide gas to
domestic consumers during the cooking hours. It means that domestic consumers will not get 24 hours gas supply instead they
will get as supply only twice or thrice
a day for a limited time to cook meals.
The SNGPL has already advising the consumers to use the gas
wisely in the coming months of winter. The main reason of the severe shortage
of gas in the winter is the gap between demand and supply of gas which
increases more than three times during winter. Consequently, the difference can
be as high as 500 mmcfd for domestic consumers in the whole network of gas
utility during the severe winter months of December to March.
The public gas utility has asked consumers to use gas
wisely; they should use electric heaters instead of traditional unhealthy gas
heaters and use solar or instant geysers on a priority basis, instead of
traditional gas geysers.
On the other hand, SSGC has warned the government of an imminent shortfall in supply and advised the authorities to make alternate arrangements for the additional supplies to meet the demand.
A spokesperson of the SSGC told the media that supply
from five gas fields, including Zargoun, Sinjhoro, Kunar Pasaki, Sujawal and
Nurbagla has stopped causing a shortage of 150 million metric cubic feet per
day (mmcfd), “which would increase to over 350 mmcfd in winters”.
“Zargoun in Quetta and Sinjhoro gas field in Sindh have gone
for the annual turnaround,” said the spokesperson. He said that supply from
Kunar Pasaki is near zero due to technical issues while Sujawal and Nurbagla in
Sindh have depleted.
The upcoming winter season will be a difficult one for the
consumers of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) as the supply from five gas fields
comes to a halt.
“We have informed the
government of the shortage,” said the spokesperson. “It is now up to them to
arrange additional supplies through imports or whatever source deemed fit.” SSGC
is getting around 970 mmcfd at present against the demand of around 1.2 billion
cubic feet per day. The gap would exceed 350 mmcfd in winters as the demand is
expected to cross 1.4 billion cubic feet per day.
The low gas pressure will make the cooking in the mornings
very difficult. The children and people will be forced to go to the offices and
schools without breakfast. It is not affordable for a common man to buy meals
three times a day from restaurants as food cannot be cooked at home because of low
pressure and load shedding.
The locals complain that this gas load shedding has emerged
due to opening of CNG stations and diversion of gas for commercial purposes.
Beside domestic sector, this gas shortage is also affecting the industrial
sector including the agriculture and textile industry, having grave
implications on the economy of Pakistan. Therefore, this gas load shedding led
to mass protests and demonstrations all across the country.
The gas crisis in Pakistan has aggravated due to the government's non-serious attitude and poor gas management and distribution policies. The government power and energy policies are not properly implemented at domestic as well as commercial level. The problems such as gas distribution losses and theft, gas management and gas consumption and conservation have resulted in this gas crisis beside low gas production/ supply as compared to its high demand in winters.
Rukhsana Manzoor Deputy Editor
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