The Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, announced that natural gas could not be supplied around the clock in most of the country due to depleting reserves.
During a meeting with the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry members and a subsequent press conference, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik stated that efforts were being made to ensure uninterrupted gas supply during sehri and iftar.
Mr. Malik stated that he had been tasked with resolving domestic and industrial problems while denying reports that gas was being diverted to Punjab from Sindh despite its deficiency in the southeastern province.
He claimed that a gas scarcity had arisen due to its supply to Balochistan’s domestic sector.
“Our natural gas reserves are diminishing by 10% annually. As a result, we only have 1,600 mmcfd of natural gas left for the entire country while demand is rising,” he added.
The government, he said, would prioritize providing petrol to low-income households. However, he added, new connections would be prohibited.
He recalled that Sindh had a surplus of natural gas until a few years ago but now faces a shortage due to rising demand.
Malik noted that, compared to other provinces, only Khyber Pakhtunkhwa currently has a petrol surplus.
Regarding gas load-shedding in the industrial sector, he stated that the crisis could be resolved by developing a costly mixture of natural gas and RLNG.
Malik said he would meet with industrial sector stakeholders again on Thursday (today) to discuss a strategy to address the gas shortage issue.
He alluded to signing a crude oil purchase agreement with Russia this month so that consumers could obtain affordable fuel.
To encourage people to heat their homes with electricity, he believed that the power tariff should be reduced to between Rs15 and Rs20 per unit from the current rate of Rs42.
Concerning the suspension of gas supply, the merchants stated that it has a crippling effect on both local production and exports.
