CNG association seeks Sindh CM, governor intervention on four-month closure

The All Pakistan CNG Association’s (APCNGA) Sindh zone on Monday urged the provincial chief minister and governor to intervene for the restoration of gas supplies from the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to CNG filling stations, claiming the pumps have remained shut for the past four months since the US-Iran conflict erupted in late February.

“The Iran war had disrupted the supply of imported gas to Pakistan. But now, the RLNG- (regasified liquefied natural gas/ imported gas) carrying vessels have resumed arrivals in the country since April 2026. So, the government should resume supply to CNG stations,” Sameer Najmul Hassan, APCNGA Sindh chairman, said in a press conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Monday.

SSGC supplies imported gas (RLNG) to CNG stations in Sindh.

Farhan Naseem, a member of the managing committee of the provincial association, told Business Recorder on sidelines of the press conference that the country has received 7 cargoes of CNG in April and May 2026.

“The outgoing month of June would have witnessed a total of three vessels carrying the imported gas into the country,” he estimated.

Hassan further said the demand for the gas for CNG filling stations operating in Sindh has reduced to a meager 1.5 mmcfd (million cubic feet gas per day), which comes to around 0.1% of daily gas supplies by SSGC across its network.

APCNGA Sindh zone former chairman Sameer Gulzar claimed the gas utility firm is supplying around 5 mmcfd gas to three to four big shopping malls in the city.

“The volume of supply to these malls is much greater compared to the reduced demand of 1.5 mmcfd at CNG stations in the province that have retained thousands of labourers despite the CNG filling stations’ four-month closure”, Gulzar said. “We might not continue to retain the thousands of employees, going forward, if supplies remain suspended.”

Hassan said the National Coordination and Management Council (NCMC) - an apex crisis-response team constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to protect Pakistan’s economy from geopolitical fallout - was not permitting the restoration of gas supplies to CNG stations in the province.

“We have sought appointment with NCMC’s co-chairman Ahad Khan Cheema [who is also Minister for Economic Affairs] multiple times, but we have yet to get any response from him or the council.”

He said the CNG filling stations in Punjab have also remained closed since the start of the Middle Eastern conflict.

“However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) chief minister and governor together convinced the federal government to continue to supply gas to CNG filling stations in the province. The gas demand by CNG stations in KP stands at 35 mmcfd,” Hassan said.

The number of active CNG filling stations in Sindh has reduced to 70 before the Mideast conflict began on February 28, 2026. Earlier, the number of pumps stood at 650 in Sindh that used to give a cumulative demand for gas at 72 mmcfd in the past years, according to the association members.