Murad says province in which a wellhead of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday said, “Diversion of [natural] gas to other parts of the country, without first meeting the requirements of the province, on the basis of an arbitrary and unilateral decision of Economic Coordination Council (ECC) is unconstitutional.”
In a letter to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the chief minister urged the premier to allocate natural gas –produced from the resources located in province—for local consumers in order to meet the domestic and commercial needs of Sindh.
The letter was written in the wake of Council of Common Interest’s (CCI) summary moved by the Energy and Petroleum Division on implementation of Article 158 and Article 172 (3).
“The province in which a wellhead of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of the country in meeting energy requirement,” the letter further stated.
The chief minister said, while referring to Article 158, said, “Only surplus quantity, after meeting the full requirement of the province and with consent of the provincial government, may be diverted to other areas.”
Murad quoted the Energy Yearbook report of 2015, saying the natural gas production in Sindh varied between 2,700 to 2,900 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) in different years, as against daily consumption of 1,560MMCFD by all sectors of economy in 2015.
He said the power and fertilizer sector consumed the bulk i.e. 589 MMCFD and 252 MMCFD respectively whose benefit were enjoyed by the entire country.
“Despite surplus gas production, Sindh has been facing gas load shedding in CNG and industrial sectors and no new connection is being provided to power generation, industrial, commercial and residential sectors by SSGCL. This is unjust and a clear violation of Article 158,” he said.
