Gas load-shedding: textile industry becomes easy prey for SNGPL

The textile industry has turned into an easy prey for Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), cutting its supply as and when there is a gas shortage in the country. Textile industry circles said the industry faced gas supply cut for 125 days last year against the contractual obligation of 90 days a year, causing a colossal loss to the national economy.
Interestingly, all efforts of the Cabinet Committee on Textile, Prime Minister Gilani and President Zardari have proved ineffective and SNGPL management is shifting the demand burden on the industry time and again. It may be noted that the SNGPL had recently notified of cutting supply three days a week to the industry against presidential instructions of providing five days a week uninterrupted supply from April onwards. A hue and cry made by the Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) resulted into a marginal improvement and SNGPL management increased supply for four days a week to the industry.
However, textile sector is still not sure as to when and why the SNGPL would axe its supply ahead, causing huge uncertainty both among the domestic and international stakeholders. This on and off gas disruption is resulting into over a billion dollars' loss to national exports besides rendering thousands of textile workers jobless. Especially, sources said, as many as 150 large scale textile units of Aptma are the target of gas suspension, consuming about 225MMCFD out of 600mmcfd gas allocated for the industry.
It is worth mentioning that the quantity of unfound gas (UFG) is 225MMCFD and there is a general perception that the SNGPL needs not put industrial production at halt if it taps some 10 percent of total 2,000MMCFD gas available with SNGPL system. Industry circles admitted in the same breath that demand for gas has increased manifold in the country with no investment on gas in last five years amidst high depletion rate of gas-fields. Still, mismanagement of gas supply is more worrisome than these factors, they insisted.
On the management side, suggest industry quarters, there is a need to revisit priority list and put textile industry on top of it like the rest of the world. Further, they said, expansion on demand side should be stopped until new discoveries are in place. Also, all political allocations of new connections should be turned down for domestic and commercial consumers and the precious fuel should be availed to the best of its use for a prudent economic contribution. According to them, import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is apparently the most immediate possible solution and government should import 500MMCFD LNG and put in SNGPL system for industrial consumption.