January 3, 2019: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has expressed determination to ensure smooth gas supply to domestic and commercial consumers on priority under its gas load-management plan approved by the government.
“The company remains committed towards providing uninterrupted gas supply to their domestic and commercial customers through adequate pressure management,” official sources said on Thursday.
The company’s foremost priority is to supply gas to domestic and commercial customers, followed by power and zero-rated industrial sector, captive power plants and other sectors including Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), they added.
Since December 2017, indigenous gas supplies from allocated gas fields to the SSGC had depleted by 80 mmcfd (million cubic feet per day) gas, which widened demand-supply gap and compelled the company to implement the Gas Load Management Plan in accordance with the sectoral ‘priority order’ set by the government.
“In winter time, overall demand for gas surges manifold due to increased consumption particularly in Quetta and surrounding areas where temperature reaches below freezing point,” the sources said.
This winter, they said the situation became more critical due to sudden reduction in gas supplies from two gas fields namely Gambat and Kunnar-Pasakhi Deep – KPD due to condensate storage problem as refineries stopped uplifting condensate.
This condensate problem reduced gas supply by 50 mmcfd, further worsening the line pack resulting in even greater drop in gas pressure. This situation left the SSGC with no option other than to temporarily discontinue gas supplies to the least priority customer – the CNG sector, as per the Gas Load Management Plan. “The situation normalized as soon as the gas fields overcame their condensate storage issues,” the sources said.
