PM orders uninterrupted gas supply in winter

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to prepare a winter plan to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers.
He also directed the Petroleum Ministry to work in coordination with the Ministry of Water and Power and ensure that surplus fuel was provided to thermal power plants.
Ashraf issued directives during a briefing by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, which he visited this afternoon. The prime minister was visiting various ministries and government departments as part of his plan to review their performance.
He said the people of Pakistan expected public utilities to provide them reliable, affordable and uninterrupted services.
Ashraf stressed that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources as well as the Ministry of Water and Power should endeavour to improve service delivery and come up to the expectations of the people.
The prime minister said he was fully aware of the difficulties and challenges being faced by various ministries and believed that overcoming these would reflect their performance.
Ashraf said the demand for gas would increase as winter set in. “It is, therefore, imperative that foolproof arrangements be put in place to ensure that supply of gas to domestic consumers remains unaffected,” he added.
He also directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to sensitise the people about the efforts being made by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to ensure provision of uninterrupted gas to domestic users.
He said he was happy to learn that the Petroleum Policy 2012 for exploration and production was well received by investors, which augured well for the future of oil and gas sector in the country.
The prime minister was told that 1.6 million consumers were given gas connections at a cost of Rs 10.41 billion while 879 kilometres of transmission lines and 39,707kms of distribution and service lines were added to the gas network with an investment of Rs 61.164 billion during the last four-and-a-half years of the government.
He was also told that as a result of efforts being made by the government, 750MMCFD of gas was likely to be added to the system by June 2013, making an increase of 20 percent.