Gas demand and supply: Sindh accused of delaying issuance of projects' RoW

The arrival of bitterly cold weather conditions in Sindh has resulted in a substantial reduction in gas supply. The situation has affected a large number of gas consumers who are facing great inconvenience in meeting their cooking and space heating needs. Given the widening demand-supply gap of natural gas, SSGC has for quite some time been delaying laying down two pipelines in Sindh that will bring in additional gas into its system.

Industry sources say that SSGC has been unable to complete these pipelines due to delays in the issuance of required land permissions and Right-of-Way (RoW) by the provincial Government within the stipulated time period. This has resulted in the curtailment of gas in many areas of Sindh in the current winter season, according to the sources.

It is all the more important for SSGC to bring additional gas into its system by beefing up its infrastructure since the indigenous gas resources are fast depleting. Gas demand is continuously increasing and the only immediate measure to bridge the gap is by injecting RLNG into the system. The Government of Sindh, however, has so far taken a firm stance against injection of RLNG to meet the gas supply needs of the people of Sindh. On top of it, the RoW issues too are seen as reasons for the delay in the commissioning of the two pipelines in Sindh SSGC is currently working on. In order to ensure uninterrupted gas supply in Sindh, particularly during the prevalent winter season, it is important that the Sindh Government facilitates SSGC by resolving the RoW matters and issues required land permissions to resolve the demand-supply gap for the consumers in Sindh but, unfortunately Sindh government is not facilitating for ROW and land acquisition to reduce gas demand and supply gap.-PR