Aiming to upgrade its network of pipelines and bring down the penalties imposed by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the cash-strapped Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) requires at least Rs 30 billion so that the precious natural gas could be saved from wastage, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Gas distribution companies were set up in the mid 1950s i.e. (the Karachi Gas Company and the Indus Gas Company) and the network of pipeline was laid in urban areas including Karachi and Hyderabad.
But now, the network has become overloaded and dilapidated, causing the company to pay huge penalties that were imposed by OGRA under the head of ‘Unaccounted For Gas’ (UFG) benchmark set by the authority.
Sources said the SSGC can efficiently provide natural gas to industrial, commercial and domestic customers. However, the financial position of the company is weakening due to imposition of financial penalties on account of UFG.
Under the new plan, the company plans to undertake massive renovation of pipelines in a bid to bring down the UFG to an acceptable level.
It would require deploying all financial and technical resources to achieve the task in time, not to only to avoid further penalties by OGRA but also to help improve the energy situation of the country by saving precious gas.
