Industrialists of Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) are lamenting that their export-oriented businesses have come to a standstill due to low gas pressure over the last few days.
In a statement, President of SITE Association of Industry Abdul Rasheed said if the industries do not receive gas with full pressure, they would not be able to meet export orders.
Indeed this is an alarming situation for SITE industrialists and government must take immediate steps to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to them.
Recent heavy rains have reportedly disturbed gas supply system and as a result supply remains uneven to different parts of Karachi.
The SSGC must move immediately to fix the problem. The country is already faced with dire economic situation and looking to the IMF and friendly countries for inflow of dollars.
Closure of industries will only hamper exports and also lead to layoffs.
Hence, industries must be provided with gas and electricity on priority basis to keep the wheel of economy rolling.
Our own gas production has declined from 4,259 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) in 2012 to 3,388 mmcfd in 2022 due to natural depletion and absence of new discoveries.
The country could have saved $3 to 5b a year had gas production been maintained at 2012 levels.
It is unfortunate that successive governments did not pay much attention towards exploration activities regardless of the fact that huge hydrocarbon seepages are still untapped in many parts of the country.
Time has come to enhance domestic production through greater exploration that will not only ensure energy security but also reduce pressure on external account.
