LAHORE (Web Desk) – Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that shortage of natural gas, particularly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will continue till next month’s end.
Abbasi said that this year’s gas crisis was worse than last year’s and both the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and Sui Southern Gas Company were unable to bridge the gap between supply and demand, adding that the main problem is in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where there is a shortfall of 200 million cubic feet a day to 250. The use of compressors by domestic consumers to suck gas was another problem in maintaining the supply, he added.
He said the LNG cost Rs900 per million British Thermal Units to the government, whereas a domestic consumer paid Rs100 per MMBTU. “How we can bridge this huge gap of Rs800,” he said, adding that the government might introduce a new tariff for the consumers, mainly large ones, if they desired to get uninterrupted supply of imported LNG.
The Dawn reported that domestic consumers require around 900 million cfd in winter in the two provinces and the shortage has caused mass protests across the country.
The domestic consumers in Sindh and Balochistan are facing low gas pressure, while those in the other two provinces are deprived of supply even in the cooking hours. Low gas pressure has made their lives miserable.
The citizens have demanded the authorities concerned to take immediate steps for regularising the gas supply to their areas.
