- PM orders reduction in gas load shedding in winter
By: AHMAD AHMADANI
A plan to reduce gas loadshedding for domestic consumers in Punjab province is on the cards after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif advised for such a step. Pakistan State Oil has placed an order for the import of additional LNG amid winter.
Informed sources revealed that a new gas load management plan was on the cards as the premier had ordered the Petroleum & Natural Resources ministry to ensure reduction in the duration of gas load shedding for the domestic gas consumers of Punjab.
Sources said the PM had also advised the petroleum ministry to ensure that domestic consumers of the province did not have cause to gather on streets to protest against gas loadsdhedding in Punjab.
“Following the order of PM, petroleum ministry has devised a plan to ensure reduction in gas load shedding in the province of Punjab during this winter,” they added.
Sources further informed this scribe that the petroleum ministry, in a bid to materialize the plan, has decided to import additional 200 million cubic feet of gas per day (MCFD) to meet the burgeoning demand of gas amid extreme weather. They said that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has placed an order for the import of additional LNG to the country, while imported LNG would be injected in the main gas system during the up-coming January. While December might prove tough for domestic gas consumers, the gas availability situation is expected to be better in January, they said.
The sources further said that the domestic gas consumers would find cheaper gas for two and half months during the on-going winter season. They said the decision of importing additional 200 MCFD LNG to the country would help in closing the demand and supply gap in the main gas system of the country.
“For the first time, a privately-owned terminal will be utilized to ensure 600 MCFD of imported gas becomes part of the main gas system,” sources said.
Official sources at petroleum ministry told this scribe that an additional 100 MCFD gas from the gas fields of Sindh would also be injected in the main gas system during the month of December.
They said the gas shortfall for domestic consumers would reduce to 350MMCFD from 550MMCFD with the injection of additional gas. However, LNG will not be available for domestic consumers after March, 2016. The month of December might cause problems for domestic consumers of Punjab, while gas demand and supply would be improved in the month of January, 2016, they said.
It is worth mentioning that during the current winter season, people from major cities of Punjab including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Dera Ghazi Khan Bahwalpur, Sahiwal, Vehari etc had reportedly thronged to the streets many times to mount pressure on the government. They staged demonstrations, chanted slogans against the gas load shedding, asking the government to ensure gas supply.
