SSGC taking pains to stem losses of 400 mmcfd gas

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ISLAMABAD: The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) is suffering line losses about 400 mmcfd gas, having potential to generate 2000 MW of electricity.

According to an official source 50 percent of the losses are due to leakages, while the rest can be attributed to slow meters, theft and measurement errors.

"If the situation continues to persist, the current 8 percent unaccounted for gas (UFG), the company is faced with, will rise to 11 percent by 2016," the source said.

To overcome the issue of gas losses the source while quoting the company's DMD (North), said with the assistance of a US$200 million loan from the World Bank, SSGC intends to implement a project named Natural Gas Efficiency Project for the main purpose of reducing system losses and the rising tide of UFG.

Pakistan is producing 4 bcfd of gas, but the fields are fast ageing, this figure will shrink to 2 bcfd by 2020 if adequate measures are not taken to prevent the downslide, the source said.

According to the source a large quantity of gas is used for cooking and heating purposes and that in Pakistan all gas appliances currently used have low efficiency.

In order to improve the quality of appliances, the source added, the SSGC had teamed up with PSQCA to review the designs of the appliances and force the industry to manufacture high efficiency PSQCA-approved appliances.

"If we can successfully make the manufacturers comply with PSCQA standards, savings of 40 percent can be made which means that 40 mcf of additional gas can be utilized by the power sector," the source maintained.

The source said Pakistan is sitting on top of 420 mmcfd of indigenous gas reserves that need to be immediately explored to put a leash on the aggravating energy crisis.

According to the source there is a widening demand and supply gap which calls for urgent implementation of the LNG project and that a number of private sector LNG projects in the short term can be considered on war footing including off-shore, dockside and 3rd party access.

"If we take the right direction, we can have LNG in 8 to 12 months," the source observes.