SSGC invites bids to import 7,500MT LPG for winter

KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has invited bids from suppliers for the provision of 7,500MT of imported LPG in three parcels of 2,500MT each, to be delivered in October, a statement said on Monday.

The southern gas utility supplies synthetic natural gas (SNG) during high demand as an alternative to piped gas, it added. SSGC was already setting up LPG air mix plants in remote areas of Sindh and Balochistan where conventional pipelines cannot be laid. LPG is mixed with air to produce synthetic gas for onward supply to the consumers through distribution networks such as natural gas, it said.

The government had planned to install LPG air mix projects to provide gas to the consumers in some parts of the hilly areas. These projects included LPG storage facility, installation and commissioning of plants, civil works and distribution network.

Since air mix gas is of low pressure, it doesn’t require high cost to set up pipelines on the hilly areas of Balochistan, the statement said. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had directed SSGC to expand setting up of air mix plants in every district of the country.

In FY16, the SSGC board of directors had conceptually approved the construction of 30 LPG air mix plants. Of the 30 LPG air mix plants, 10 plants are under construction and management is confident to complete all these plants by 2020.

Upon capitalisation of these assets, SSGC will be entitled to 17.43 percent return. With an addition of 700,000 consumers last year, Pakistan’s gas shortfall is estimated to jump 157 percent to 3.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in fiscal year 2019/20.

The estimates have been made by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) that put the gas shortfall increasing almost continuously every year to 6.6bcfd by FY28.