LAHORE: The precarious supply chain of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has once again exposed vulnerable energy security of country as delay in berthing of ship has caused widespread shortage of natural gas.
Resultantly, supply of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to public sector thermal power stations, fertiliser plants, CNG filling stations and non-zero rated industry has been suspended in Punjab. Priority is being given to ensure non-stop supply to domestic consumers with a view to minimising their problems.
According to an official statement issued here on Monday, owing to non-berthing of cargos due to severe weather conditions in coastal areas, re-gasification rate from the existing terminals has been ramped down drastically, causing imbalance in demand and supply of RLNG. Therefore, spokesman of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) said, gas supply to various sectors has been suspended immediately.
It is learnt that LNG cargo of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) could not berth, RLNG re-gasification from Engro Terminal has now been reduced to 220MMCFD. Total RLNG available from imported consignments presently stands at 600MMCFD.
It is feared that the weather condition at port may become more severe by tomorrow (Tuesday) and resultantly berthing of PLL upcoming cargo tomorrow may get into difficulty. This eventuality may reduce RLNG availability to only 400MMCFD.
As soon as the system improves, gas supply will be restored, he maintained. With severing of gas supply to thermal power plants, nearly 2000mw of power generation has been adversely affected. Such deficit in electricity generation, power outages have returned across the country.
Gas supply to all sectors, except domestic and commercial users, has been suspended by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) in Punjab due to the shortage of natural gas, and delayed addition of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in the system.
During current winter season, successive cuts in supply of natural gas have been witnessed. Last month, following deepening crisis of natural gas shortage, the supply of RLNG was suspended to the fertiliser sector coupled with significant curtailment to the power generation plants. This step was taken in addition to energy supply suspension to the industrial and CNG sectors a few days. At that time, the port authorities failed to successfully berth the LNG ship at Port Qasim, citing the challenge of low tide.
On the other hand, insiders instead that delay in ordering import of LNG also led to dwindling import consignments. In December last year, annual maintenance of LNG terminals and their underutilisation were one of the main reasons of persistent gas shortfall.
