Karachi to face gas shortage, low pressure today

The residents of Karachi will have to bear with more interruptions in gas supply for a day due to a sudden shortage of gas supply from the Naimat-Basal field, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) announced on Sunday.

“[The] SSGC is faced with a sudden shortage of 50 mmcfd gas from the upstream Naimat- Bassal Gas Field,” the gas utility wrote on its official X handle. As a result of this curtailment, the SSGC said residents of Karachi could get less gas or low pressure for the following 24 hours.

Earlier this week, the SSGC had said it would stop gas supply to all industries and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in Sindh for 48 hours starting from Saturday morning, citing low pressure and shortages in its system.

The gas utility had said that the decision was made in accordance with the gas sales agreement for industrial customers approved by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, which allowed the SSGC to manage gas load according to the sectoral priority order.

The gas closure began on Saturday at 8am and would end today (Monday) at 8am. It affected all the industries, including their power generation units, and all CNG stations in Sindh, including those operating on re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG).

The SSGC had also warned that it would take strict action against any industry found violating the gas holiday period by disconnecting their gas supplies for at least seven days.