ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to restore the gas supply to industrial sector In Punjab from Tuesday (December 31) as the gas supply for MOL gas field has resumed and intake of RLNG has also increased to 1070 mmcfd from 900 mmcfd and from January 1, 2020 the RLNG supply will further increase to 1192 mmcfd, a senior official at Petroleum Division told The News.
However, gas supply to CNG sector in Punjab will be restored once the industry has been energised so that system does not come under immediate pressure.
However, industrial and CNG sector in Sindh will continue to face gas shortage as the flouting of Article 158 of the Constitution is the main reason for the massive gas crisis in Sindh, which clearly says that the province where the gas is produced has first right to use it and the leftover gas will then be transported to the province where gas is less produced or not produced, a senior Sindh government official told The News. With every passage of day, gas crisis in Sindh is being aggravated and so much so Sindh business community has decided to launch protest from Monday.
According to the latest official data, Sindh produces 78 percent gas whereas 30 percent its gas needs are met. Right now industrial sector in Sindh is non-operational and CNG sector has also been facing the gas shortage for many days. The central government wants Sindh to purchase LNG, but Sindh says it is surplus in gas and why it should go for purchasing of costly LNG as it produces the 78 percent gas but it is not being treated as per Article 158 of the Constitution, senior official of Sindh government said.
However, the Punjab government official said that no doubt Article 158 gives the right to the province to first use the gas to cater to its needs wherein gas is produced, but if it is implemented and gas diversion to Punjab from other provinces is stopped, it will cause disparity among the provinces.
He said that KP produces 8 percent gas and it is being provided 10 percent gas as per its needs. It is the only province wherein Article 158 is being implemented. There is no shortage of gas for CNG and industrial sector in KP.
However, when it comes to Sindh, its gas is being provided to Punjab at the cost of gas crisis in Sindh. In Punjab only 2 percent gas is produced but it is being provided 51 percent local gas which is against the constitution. Balochistan produces 12 percent gas, but it is being provided 5 percent. Sindh official says the restoration of gas to Sindh has nothing to do with the construction of pipelines allegedly halted because of right of ways issue. Whenever this issue is to be raised with Sindh government, it will be looked into positively.
But Petroleum Division says that since the government of Sindh has refused the Right of Way (ROW); supply from Ayesha, Amna and Amna North fields is not possible. The Petroleum Division continued to raise this matter with the Sindh through official correspondence since 8 months, however, no response was received. The matter may still be resolved if cooperation is forthcoming from the Sindh government.
Petroleum Division says that the demand for gas is 6 billion cubic feet per day whereas the supply of gas, including RLNG, stands at 4.5 bcfd. The actual shortfall, therefore, stands 1.5 bcfd. It must be noted that supply of gas from Rizkgas field will commence from January 2020 and that would add 40 mmcfd gas to the system.
Currently, SSGC is supplying 1160 mmcfd gas whereas the actual demand is 1235 mmcfd; shortfall at SSGC stands at 75 mmcfd. SNGPL is supplying 2121 mmcfd gas while demand is 2100 mmcfd. However, due to the severe weather, low gas pressure is being witnessed at many locations. The official said that there are two kinds of gas tariff one is T1 and other is T2; T1 is tariff for local gas and T2 tariff is for imported gas (RLNG). The industrial sector of KP is being provided gas at T1 and there is no gas shortage. In KP CNG sector is not closed down as the KP government has managed to get its share more than its gas production share. To a question, the official explained that the gas discovered in Sindh and Balochistan is allocated to Sui Southern Gas Company Limited. The gas is coming to Punjab also because of old allocations, made more than 10 years before. So, unless old allocations get cancelled, which is not possible easily, Sindh will continue to suffer. Coming to Punjab and KP, the official said that the curtailments in gas supply were necessitated owing to record low December temperature arising from climate change on which company has no control. “Supply of RLNG to domestic consumers has exceeded 500 MMCFD in the last week of December against the average December 18 consumption of only 150 MMCFD owing to severe weather change,” he said. The Sui Northern says it is undertaking all efforts to ensure supply of gas to high priory domestic consumers.
