Loss-cutting targets: PM Secretariat seeks report on gas utilities’ failure

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Secretariat asked the Petroleum Division about the actions being taken by the two gas companies – the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) - to improve their performance and what action taken by the Division to hold the management of two companies accountable for failure to achieve the assigned targets.

An explanation has been sought on the report that gas utilities fail to meet the loss-cutting targets (UfG) released on December 20, 2022.

The government approved a list of indicators and decided to take corrective measures in the reduction of UfG since UfG disallowances have a significant impact on the revenues of the company, a three-year UfG Reduction Plan was thus, approved for both gas companies by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and ratified by the federal cabinet in the fiscal year 2019-20.

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The letter written to Petroleum Division pointed out the targets which were missed. It says, in respect of the SSGCL, the fiscal year 2019-20 despite Covid, targets in seven to 10 reported indicators were achieved but UfG reduction target fell short by nearly 50 percent. In contrast, in the fiscal year 2020-21, its targets is only three out of 10 reported indicators were achieved but the UfG reduction target was surpassed by 25 percent. In the fiscal year 2021-22, its UfG loss, instead of registering any decline, increased, which has been attributed to the harsh winter in Balochistan without giving requisite comparative consumption data in respect of Balochistan in particular and for Sindh as well.

Similar data on the SNGPL does not indicate targets, due to which achievements made on the reported 13 indicators cannot be compared to any benchmark nor with the SSGCL’s performance.

In addition, against a total of 30 key monitoring indicators, data on 10 and 13 indicators of the SSGCL and the SNGPL respectively has been furnished which renders the reported data incomplete. The Prime Minister Secretariat also recognised that data reported by the Petroleum Division is provisional and not yet finalised by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023