Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Minister for Energy Division Umer Ayub Khan said on Thursday that the country was going to face natural gas shortage in the upcoming winter as domestic consumption increases manifold due to use of room and water heaaters. Responding to the question of Bahramand Khan Tangi, he said gas load management is imperative during impending winter season as indigenous gas sources were continuously depleting and cannot meet the winter demand. Twenty blocks for gas and oil exploration has been auctioned.
In Sui Northern Gas Pipeline’s (SNGPL) system, the domestic demand goes up by 3 times and in Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), it goes up by 2 times in December and January. Both the Sui Companies were dedicated to ensure smooth gas supply to all categories of consumers on their network especially to high priority domestic, consumers, during winter months. In SNGPL’s network enhanced demand of high priority domestic sector is met through diversion of Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to domestic consumers.
During the peak winter months, some sectors may face curtailment, he said adding that in order to meet the demand of the domestic and other customers on SSGC’s network, some sectors including CNG, Captive Power of general industry may face gas load curtailments. Responding to another question, he said SSGCL has reported that its transmission network loss is less than 0.5 percent.
