KPD gas field in SSGC network back online: Hammad Azhar

• Pakistan facing severe energy crisis due to which CNG stations are closed till July 5.
• Energy Minister Hammad Azhar says the KPD gas field is back online.
• Adds dry docking of LNG terminal has started and will be completed by Monday.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar Wednesday said that the Kunnar Passaki Deep (KPD) gas field has resumed supply to the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) network after the completion of its annual turnover.

The energy minister, in a statement on Twitter, also announced the start of dry docking of Engro’s LNG terminal, which he said, will be completed by Monday.

Azhar added that Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) gas diversions will mostly take place during this time.

The gas crisis in the country has hit the industry and the CNG sector hard due to the closure of the KPD gas field and the dry docking of the LNG terminal, with the business community blaming the government’s mismanagement for the shortage.

According to a report, the SSGC faced a gas shortfall of 160mmcfd in its system due to which CNG stations had been closed till July 5.

Meanwhile, the SSGCL has said that due to supply-side issues, the gas utility is managing load by implementing the Pakistan’s Gas Load Management Plan under which the top most priority is given to domestic and commercial customers, followed by other categories.

However, the SSGC categorically denied reports of gas load shedding anywhere in its franchise area.

“Some pocket neighbourhoods may be facing temporary shortages due to inflow of reduced volumes of gas from the gas fields owned by E&P companies,” the report quoted the SSGC as saying.

Similarly, some areas are undergoing pressure profiling and may be facing pressure and supply issues especially during the nighttime, the company further said.

‘Gas crisis expected to be over in 2-3 days’

Meanwhile, SAPM on Power and Petroleum Tabish Gauhar said Pakistan is expected to receive a major LNG shipment in the next two to three days to tide industrial units over the recent gas crisis.

“I am expecting a major improvement in coming 2-3 days as a major shipment of LNG [liquified natural gas] has arrived and will be transmitted and distributed through SSGCL [Sui Southern Gas Company Limited] system within few days,” Gauhar had said during a meeting with leading businessmen and industrialists in Karachi.

The government shut down gas to non-export industrial sector due to recurring maintenance works in the fields and shortfall aggravated by delay in LNG imports due to hype over the pricing of the fuel imported in the past.

Gauhar had said the repair and maintenance works of the gas fields are mandatory and unavoidable and, the government is aware of the enormous challenges being faced by the industry and intends to take every possible measure to ease the crisis as early as possible.

He had agreed to the recommendation that there should be a representative of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) in the SSGCL to bring real industrial issues in the limelight.