Around 61,753mt LPG imported in nine months

ISLAMABAD: The country has imported around 61,753 metric ton (mt) Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) during first nine months of the year 2017, official sources said.

“The LPG import stood at around 5,13,788 mt in 2016, while 2,45,578 mt in 2015 and 62,117 mt in 2014,” they told APP.

During the last four years, the number of LPG marketing had reached 144 and the government had decided to set up LPG-air mix plants in far-flung areas of the country where facility of natural gas was not available.

Currently, the two state companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) are working to set up 59 LPG-air mix plants at  designated sites in their respected operational  areas.

"The project is aimed at providing gas facility to the population in the areas where facility of natural gas is not available and to discourage deforestation. At the plants, LPG will be mixed with air to produce synthetic gas for onward supply to the consumers through distribution networks like natural gas," the sources said.

The SNGPL will install Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)-air mix plants in Beor, Ban, Kurbagla-Dewal, Company Bagh, Tret, Phagwari, Rawat, Ghora Gali, Ariari, Karor, Kotli Sattian, Santhan Wali, Kahuti, Lehtrar and Pangar in Punjab and Darosh, Balakot and Ayun localities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.  In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the facility would be provided in Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Kotli, Palandri, Bagh, Dhirkot and Bhimber, whereas a plant would be installed in Gilgit, the sources said.

The SSGCL, they said, would set up LPG plants at Umerkot and Mithi areas of Thar in Sindh, and Zhob, Qilla Saifullah, Loralai, Kharan, Musakhail, Qilla Abdullah, Keecha at Turbat, Khuzadar, Uthal, Winder, Muslim Bagh, Killi Khanzai, Chaman, Sherani, Sanjawi, Chaghi, Panjgor, Hamal, Washuk, Wadh in Khuzdar, Barkhan, Mitri (Bolan Katchi), Injeera (Khuzdar), Gandva (Jhal Magsi, Kohlu, Awaran and Bela in Balochistan.

Answering a question, the sources said the LPG air mix project on SNGPL system was at different stages of implementation like planning, survey, import of plants and acquisition of land, while the SSGCL had started the process of site selection and land acquisition under the project. The company had worked out Rs 14 billion cost  for the mentioned plants and the tenders would be floated once the feasibility study was completed.

"The SSGCL is exploring the possibility to arrange financing for the same from its own resources which is  primarily the savings from other projects," the sources added.

They said the SSGCL would set up 10 LPG-air mix plants during the current fiscal year.