All Pakistan CNG Association has selected 137 CNG station across the country to start implementing the CNG safety exercise which will make binding on all vehicles to get RFID chip based stickers to get CNG refilling at the stations. An official source said this information was provided at the meeting of the ministerial CNG safety task force on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by Joint Secretary Admin Ministry of Petroleum Hamid Asghar Khan was held to review progress of the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) regarding safety of CNG cylinders and kits. The meeting was attended by senior officers of OGRA, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) and Chairman All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA).
APCNGA informed that 137 CNG stations have been pinpointed for establishment of CNG safety monitoring regime in the first phase and a list of these stations has been forwarded to OGRA for clearance. Moreover, computerised monitoring equipment has been provided by APCNGA to HDIP and OGRA. The meeting was informed that training sessions by expert engineers for CNG station personnel have been completed by HDIP in Islamabad head office, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta regional offices.
Criteria for vehicular monitoring and recommendations regarding placement of CNG cylinders in public service and private vehicles have been prepared by HDIP and would be shared with OGRA and APCNGA before submission to Ministry of Petroleum. For commercial passenger vehicles, OGRA has recommended that only two CNG cylinders be allowed in Light Transport Vehicles (LTV) and a maximum of four cylinders in Heavy Transport Vehicles (HTV) while as only one CNG cylinders be fitted in private vehicles.
The task force authorized HDIP to finalise location of CNG Cylinders in public service vehicles after carrying out technical study. HDIP informed that technical screening of proposals for selection of third party monitoring laboratories would be completed in one week. The members emphasized that uniform standards for manpower and monitoring fees would be maintained across the country and recommendations finalized by the task force would be presented to Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for approval.
