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ECC discusses options for countering gas shortfall

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: To bridge the natural gas shortfall of 1.1 bcf in the winter season 2009-10, the sub-committee of Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet here on Monday discussed the option for declaring two days’ holidays for the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations across the country.

Cement, Textile, Fertilizer and various other industry associations have been taken on board and a consensus existed on the two holidays option, a further meeting on this issue is also in the pipeline to get the agreement from CNG stations owners association in this regard before finalization of the recommendations for the federal cabinet, this was informed by The Minister for Industry.

A meeting of the sub-committee of Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet on the Natural Gas Load Management Programme 2009-10 was held under the chairmanship of the Federal Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Syed Naveed Qamar today. The meeting under the chairmanship of Syed Naveed Qamar, discussed various proposals aiming to arrive at a formula of gas sharing which would be acceptable to all stakeholders in the event of gas shortfall in winter season.

Syed Naveed Qamar stressed on the need to explore all possible options to bridge the gap between supply and demand so as to minimize the impact of rising gas demands in the winter season as much as possible.

It was also suggested that all sectors including CNG ought to share the load management brunt and two days holiday option should be applicable across the board. It was discussed that the captive power plants having dual-fired engines should make alternate fuel arrangements during the curtailment period. The Minister for Petroleum also advised the management of SNGPL to expedite the manufacturing of conical baffles through induction of private sector which are expected to improve efficiency of gas geyser by 25 percent, and directed SNGPL to make all out efforts to introduce the energy-saving gadget during the ensuing winters and make its accessible to all and sundry.

It was proposed that SNGPL would install conical baffles in some 3.2 million natural gas geyser in use in the country that would improve the efficiency of natural gas geyser by 25 percent. Consumers would be required to pay Rs 600 price of conical baffles in installments.

The Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and the chairman of the gas-load management committee stated that the government was taking full cognizance of the problem and was making all out efforts for judicious management of the gas load. The aforesaid measures allow consumers to sail through the winter season with as less inconvenience as possible and thus minimize the adverse affects on the export earnings and national exchequer.

Replying to a question on the Natural Gas Load Management Plan 2009-10 for winter season, Shaukat Tarin, Federal Minister for Finance informed that availability of 100mmcfd gas Kohat would be insufficient for bridging the gas shortfall that stands at over 1 BCF. Options have been discussed in the meeting and the chair of the Committee would finalize its recommendations for submission to the Federal Cabinet for formal approval.

Syed Naveed Qamar, federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources after the meeting told reporters that the meeting has discussed the options to bridge the gap between demand and supply. No decision has yet been taken, as the committee would recommend some more measures to the federal cabinet in this regard.

Rana Farooq Saeed, Federal Minister for Textile Industry told reporters that we have pleaded the tile industry’s case in a strong manner in the meeting, as this industry is the major contributor in foreign exchange earners for the country. He informed that textile industry had demanded an allocation of 300mmcfd gas for keeping its operations intact, however, the minister was of the view that 300mmcfd gas availability is not likely and some 200mmcfd could be made available for the industry. He informed that Textile Industry Ministry has recommended to the meeting that natural gas shortfall should be shared among all the stakeholders accept the domestic consumers.

Rasheed Laon, Managing Director, Sui Northern Gas Company Limited told media that CNG industry was consuming some 210mmcfd and this gas was enough to move the wheel of 76 percent of the industrial sector.

MD SNGPL was also of the view that efficient use of available natural gas in the domestic sector could save 440mmcfd gas which was more than enough to meet the demand of the industrial sector. He further informed that a general public awareness campaign is to be launched soon for efficient use of available gas in domestic sectors so that the available gas is used to its potential by the deserving sectors as well. The Federal Ministers of Water and Power, Industries, Finance, Textile and the representatives of other participating ministries also attended the meeting.

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