Restoration of gas supply to captive power units, CNG sectors likely by month end

ISLAMABAD    –  The government is confident to restore regular gas supply to captive power plants of the non-export industrial sector and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations by end of the current month as it expected a gradual decline in commodity consumption after January 18-20.

“Usually, the demand for the residential sector starts coming down gradually after January 18-20, so we are very confident that the supply position will move towards normalcy.  And we will be able to restore the curtailed supply of the captive power units as well as the CNG sector by last week of the current month,” a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP.

During December and January, the official said, the gas demand usually increased by 2.5-3 fold every year across the country.

In the given scenario, he said, a load-management plan was implemented to ensure the provision of the gas supply to domestic sector consumers on top priority. Accordingly, he said, in last week of November 2020, the federal cabinet had approved a plan allowing the government to curtail the supply of CNG and captive power units in sequence if there was any shortage.

Despite the severe supply constraints, the official said, the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company continued supplying the commodity to all sectors by December 20, 2020, adding during December 20 & 30 the commodity supply was curtailed to CNG sector partially, while a notification was issued on December 31 to stop the supply to captive power units related to the non-export industry.

As per an agreement, he said, the companies were not bound to supply gas to captive power industries during three months of the winter season including December, January and February. Explaining the captive power units, he said, these plants were installed in factories for producing gas-based electricity instead of getting the supply from distribution companies or grid stations. He said usually the gas remained available for such units for 7-8 months in a year but during the peak winter season, they should use the grid-electricity for their production when the gas demand was high and the power availability remained in abundance.

The official advised the captive power units to ensure the installation of regular electricity connections so that their production remained unaffected during the gas curtailment period, and avoid excessive use of the commodity when there was its shortage.