Addressing the members and office bearers of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATl) on January 19, 2013 at a luncheon given in his honour, Mr. Siddiqui said that through new gas fields, supply of 50 to 60 mmcfd is expected by early next year. Another 50 mmcfd LPG-air mix gas through LPG plant under completion at Port Qasim will further beef up the supplies, the MD said.
Addressing the members and office bearers of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATl) on January 19, 2013 at a luncheon given in his honour, Mr. Siddiqui said that through new gas fields, supply of 50 to 60 mmcfd is expected by early next year.
The MD said that a significant amount of 110 mmcfd gas could be saved through adopting conservation methods and installation of right types of gadgets. He said with the improvement of gas supply the demand of gas too would grow with the same ratio and to overcome this grim situation all sectors of gas consumers would have to sacrifice whether they are domestic consumers, industrial, commercial or CNG sector.
The MD said SSGC has sought permission from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to allow SSGC to charge for gas on account of theft by non-registered consumers. SSGC supplies 100 mmcfd to the CNG sector. Although we suspend CNG supplies for three days a week, pumps still manage to sell nearly as much gas in the remaining four days as they would in a week without any CNG closure. But still, it helps us control pressure for other sectors on CNG curtailment days, he said.
All car owners belonged to the top 5 percent income bracket, which should be enough for the government to ban CNG in private cars. The days of cheap gas are over. CNG should be restricted to public transport only. We are the 27th largest producer of gas globally, but we are number one in terms of CNG consumption, the MD said.
The MD reiterated that recovery from the industrial sector was excellent. On query by the Chairman KATl Mohammad Zubair Chhaya regarding launching awareness campaign about gas conservation, he said besides running natural gas conservation campaign, SSGC has initiated advisory service for the industrial sector and any industrialist could obtain advisory service free of charge.
The MD said even domestic consumers in many gas deficient countries have been shifted to LPG. He agreed with the point that industry should be given priority amongst all consumers as it provides employment to the general masses.