Announcing that additional 700 mmcfd gas will be inserted into the national transmission system by June, Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Senator Dr Asim Hussain said on Friday that efforts of influential lobbies to derail the gas disbursement plan will be thwarted through strict implementation of policy and gas theft act.
Holding a press conference after meeting an All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) delegation, he said that a three-year plan to overcome gas shortage would be unveiled next week. The minister said that the industrial sector in Punjab will start getting gas for at least three weekly days from Monday next week. Asim said that industrial units will be divided into four zones, adding that the present unconstrained gas demand stands at 6 bcfd while production was 4.2 bcfd but supply to domestic consumers would improve after the extreme cold spell was over.
The minister said that the federal government had adopted the policy of openness and provided realistic and objective presentation of facts regarding the gas crisis. Castigating the opposition’s clamour against gas shortage, he said it was not a time for confrontation and urged the opposition to provide workable solutions for overcoming the energy crisis.
Asim said that measures on war-footing were being taken to bring down the percentage of Unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) losses in SNGPL and SSGC. The losses had been reduced from 12.5 percent to 11.2 percent and would be brought down to 7 percent, he said. The minister said that a single percent UFG translates into Rs 2 billion per annum loss. During last year, the utilised recorded losses of Rs 25 billion forced the government to allow a massive tariff hike of 14 percent.
Asim said that he would be visiting India on January 24 to discuss security and other technical issues on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline Project with his Indian counterpart. Regarding negotiations with Qatar for LNG supply, he said that the term sheet will be received from Qatar next week, after which process of finalisation of the agreement for imports will start.
