Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has announced a new schedule for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under which both provinces will experience severe gas load shedding.
In this regard, the Managing Director (MD) of SNGPL, Ali J. Hamdani, revealed that domestic consumers in KP and Punjab will be supplied with gas for eight hours per day, resulting in a 16-hour gas outage during this winter season.
Furthermore, he emphasized that domestic consumers will receive gas thrice a day, from 6 AM to 9 AM, 12 PM to 2 PM, and 6 PM to 9 PM, even though there is a global gas crisis, which has affected Pakistan as well.
MD Hamdani addressed a presser and stated that the Ukraine and Russia conflict has caused a severe gas crisis in the world, including skyrocketing costs of Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG).
Consequently, Pakistan failed to purchase sufficient RLNG this year, he added. In addition, MD Hamdani underlined the issue of the growing use of gas compressors and billions worth of gas theft, which is exacerbating the country’s gas shortage and revenue collection.
Moreover, he advised the federal government to hike gas prices because it is getting increasingly challenging to acquire expensive gas and sell it at cheaper costs.
Besides, MD Hamdani assured the industrial sector that SNGPL will not be suspending the gas supply, however, it will impose a temporary ban on the issuance of new connections on account of the current gas crisis.
