Senate panel questions delay in signing of RLNG contracts

ISLAMABAD: The members of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum have asked the government to remove bureaucratic hurdles to expedite the process for import of RLNG.

The committee chairman, Senator Abdul Qadir who chaired the meeting, questioned why advance shipping was not booked in May or April for the months of November and December that could have saved the national exchequer.

On that, the ministry officials replied that for this to happen, they have to make 100% advance payments. And there is only two-month strip available to secure the future deliveries.

The chairman said: “We are here to help the government and save the public money. This committee can help the ministry tie up with the Finance Ministry and remove bureaucratic hurdles for timely processing of import orders.”

The meeting commenced with a briefing by the Ministry of Energy regarding gas shortage/crisis in the country during the last two years and steps taken to overcome the same.

The ministry officials informed the committee that both Sui companies are making all-out efforts to maintain uninterrupted gas supply to all the sectors including domestic and industrial sectors on a 24/7 basis. During the summer, the domestic gas demand reduces but the demand for the power sector surges, which is met by ordering maximum possible volumes of RLNG.

Whereas, during the winter season, the domestic gas demand increases over 3 times on SNGPL's network and 2 times on SSGC's network due to use of water and room heaters and there remains a shortfall even after maximum orders of RLNG by the SNGPL.

Therefore, the load management is carried out to reduce the demand supply gap.

The ministry officials informed the committee that in order to strike a balance between indigenous gas supply and demand during above-mentioned period, the SSGC is retaining RLNG in the system.

The SSGCL has implemented the government's approved Gas Load Management Plan of 2018 in which domestic and commercial customers are given top priority in the provision of gas followed by other sectors.

The general industries including captive power (non-export) remain closed for one day a week in Sindh.

The CNG sector remained closed for three days a week in 2018-19 and 2019-20, since the start of supply of RLNG to the CNG sector. Furthermore, the SSGC is curtailing gas supply to K-Electric, Sindh Nooriabad Power Station and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) only in winter.

The winter gas load management plan is being prepared, which would be presented to the cabinet for approval, all out efforts shall be made to ensure maximum supply of gas to different sectors.

Senator Shamin Afridi expressed his reservations regarding gas load-shedding in KP.

He questioned why there is load-shedding in KP when the province has surplus gas production.

Senator Fida Muhammad also weighed in on the situation and lamented the role of the SNGPL in distribution of gas supplies among the provinces.

Senator Quratul Ain Marri and Senator Engr Rukhsana Zuberi also pointed out that Sindh also has surplus gas production and yet the province faces gas outages.