Load-management: Gas supply to CNG stations suspended

MANSEHRA: The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Association on Sunday suspended gas supply to vehicles across Hazara Division and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under gas load-management policy after its successful talks with the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

“We have shut down CNG stations in Hazara and the rest of the province following successful talks with SNGPL and representatives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government,” Khalid Latif, a central executive body member and president of the CNG Owners Association in Hazara, told reporters.

He said that the CNG stations across the Hazara division and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would remain closed until Monday and resume night-long operations seven days a week.“We will also suspend the supply on Monday and resume operations from Tuesday from 5pm to 8am next morning,” Latif added.

He explained that SNGPL’s senior general manager, Taj Wali, and Commissioner, Hazara Division, Zaheerul Islam had requested their association to suspend fuel supply to vehicles.

Latif said that they had convened meetings of their four divisions- Peshawar, Mardan, Karak, and Abbottabad - after the talks and decided to close CNG stations across the province.“We held talks with them and agreed to close CNG stations for two days - Sunday and Monday - and announced a day-long suspension of gas supply to vehicles,” he stated.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was self-sufficient in natural gas production, and under Article 158 of the Constitution, the government was obligated to meet the province’s requirements first before distributing the surplus to other parts of the country.

“We (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) produce 421 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), while our total consumption is 220 mmscfd, with the remainder going to Punjab,” Latif said.He also mentioned that the Peshawar High Court had already issued a status quo, ordering the federal government not to suspend gas supply to CNG stations across the province until the next order.“If CNG stations are closed for months or weeks, it might shatter this industry as it has been in Punjab,” Latif warned.