SSGC issues statement on 'gas loadshedding plan for Karachi, other areas'

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has denied the media reports claiming that a gas loadshedding plan had been notified during the afternoon hours in the southern parts of the country.

In a statement on Thursday, the gas utility said there is no truth to the reports on media and social media that the company had notified gas shutdown hours in the afternoon.

It said the underground gas line pack was affected due to low pressure which impacted the gas supply in some areas of Karachi and was restored by 6pm on Wednesday.

The statement further mentioned that a 10% annual depletion in the country's gas reserves has further decreased amount of gas received by the SSGC due to which demand and supply gap has increased even in summer.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, the gas utility said a sudden drop in gas pressure may be experienced by consumers as it happened the previous day.

However, speaking to Geo.tv residents of Gulistan-e-Jouhar, North Karachi and other areas rejected the SSGC claims saying that they had been experiencing gas loadshedding for the last couple of days.

In April this year, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik said that the masses cannot get gas 24/7, attributing a drop in the commodity's reserves depleting as a major reason.

Pakistan is highly reliant on natural gas for energy, and with rising demand and insufficient supply, loadshedding has become a daily occurrence in many parts of the country.