Gas supply as usual from the Bhit Shah Gas Field will not resume on its scheduled date of May 4 after repair works were extended “indefinitely” due to technical glitches, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The delay in resumption of gas supply is bad news for power companies, fertilizer corporations and industries, since most of their operations depend on this gas: the Bhit Shah Gas Field provides a total of 345 mmcfd supply to the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), which in turn, distributes gas to the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and Fauji Fertilizer (the three bulk customers of the SSGC).
The fresh development, sources said, would be a setback for the KESC, which is currently embroiled in wrangling with the Pakistan State Oil over fuel supply. Most of the KESC’s generation is based on gas-run turbines, and the delay in resumption of gas supply means that the existing crisis of power supply in the city is bound to remain. The KESC usually receives almost 180mmcfd from the SSGC, but was currently getting between 100 to 110 mmcfd.
The Bhit Shah Gas Field had been shutdown on April 11 for its Annual-Turn-Around (ATA). It was expected back then that supply will resume on April 30, even though the SSGC had issued a May 4 resumption date. Despite the fact that a minimum supply of almost 145mmcfd remained available during the shutdown, supply had been reduced by almost 60 percent.
Though the SSGC had repeated requests to the industrial sector to arrange alternative sources or use natural gas with voluntarily curtailment of gas consumption by 20 percent, industries and power companies demanded supply of more gas to keep their units running during the past 20 days.
Sources claimed that Bhit Shah Gas Field was initially supposed to be shut down completely, but due to various meetings and continuous follow-ups, the SSGC was able to persuade ENI to maintain supplies through at least one production train, thus ensuring at least 40 percent supplies during the ATA. The SSGC’s management had written letters to each of its three major bulk customers, informing them well ahead of time that the maintenance work will result in substantial reduction of their usual gas supplies.
