The Petroleum Institute of Pakistan (PIP), a representative body of the country’s oil and gas sectors organized a seminar on the topic of “Synthetic Natural Gas Viability (SNG) in Pakistan” on April 20, 2017. The seminar was hosted by SSGC at its Head Office Auditorium in Karachi, in its capacity as one of the member organizations of PIP.
The purpose of the seminar was to create awareness about SNG viability in Pakistan for power generation, industrial, residential use, its technology and cost competitiveness with competing fuels, and to also learn about the policy advancements/market reforms in other natural gas markets where SNG contributes major portion in the fuel mix and is sustainable.
The seminar, attended by senior officials of the energy industry, was marked by incisive presentations by Irfan Baig, Chief Engineer LPG/ LNG, SNGPL, Owais Mir, CEO, Dynamic Engineering and Automation (DEA) Group, Asim Tirmizi, Project Director, Liquefied Gases, SSGC, Gary Eaton, MD Kcenergi, USA, Asim Murtaza Khan, CEO, PIP and Amin Rajput, Acting MD, SSGC.
In his opening remarks, Muhammad Danish, Senior Manager – Policies and Government Relations, PIP explained the objectives behind organizing this seminar at a time when the energy sector stakeholders are fully engaged in working towards solutions for the chronic energy crisis that Pakistan has been confronted with.
In his welcome address, Amin Rajput, Acting MD, SSGC said that the SNG or LPG-Air Mix Technology is not a new phenomenon for the gas utility since it is an alternative mechanism for providing gas to those far flung areas where conventional transmission through pipelines is not possible. He said that back in 2005, the Company transmitted gas to Gwadar in Balochistan through this technology and since then the Company has established two LPG-Air mix plants in Noshki and Surab in Balochistan and one in Mirpurkhas in Sindh. Mr. Rajput informed the audience that the Company’s board of Directors recently gave its approval for installing 30 more LPG-Air Mix Plants in the Company’s franchise areas of Sindh and Balochistan.
In his presentation, Mr. Irfan Baig, Chief Engineer LPG/ LNG, SNGPL, dilated on his Company’s objectives behind supplying LPG-Air mix. He said that LPG-Air Mix is being provided to Northern Hilly areas of Punjab, Khyber Paktunkhwa, Azad Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan since these regions are not connected with SNGPL’s distribution network and are burning wood to meet their heating requirements. He stressed that the supply of SNG will help tackle the issue of deforestation and will emerge as a safe and convenient mode of energy as compared to contemporary sources since no refilling is required through this technology. Besides, he said that its price is regulated and not subject to market fluctuation. Mr. Baig said that the Government of Pakistan has approved installation of 30 LPG-Air Mix Plants at different locations in of Punjab and KPK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Owais Mir, CEO, DEA gave a presentation entitled ‘SNG – A Smart Tactical Solution for Effective Town Gas Distribution’. Mr. Mir said that his Company has been engaged in providing cost effective and technically sound customized energy engineering solutions to end users according to authorized national and international standards. He said that his Company has helped SSGC set up SNG Plants on turnkey basis in Noshki, Surab, Gwadar and Kot Ghulam Mohammad and in many local industries across Pakistan. Mr. Baig said that a huge growth potential exists for LPG-Air Mix technology in gas utilities and in industries where peak shaving and back systems can be adopted. He said that the right infrastructure for LPG is available in the form of LPG Terminal in Pakistan and a presence of a robust supply chain. Mr. Mir further said that in the recent years the increased import of LPG into the country through regional sources also augurs well for the growth of LPG Industry.
In his presentation, Asim Tirmizi, Project Director (LGs) explained to the audience different components of the LPG-Air Mix plant. He said that SSGC has been instructed to set up additional thirty LPG-Air Mix Plants in the next one year which is a tall order but the Company is determined to commission these projects within the stipulated time frame. Mr. Tirmizi said that by mid 2017, two more LPG-Air Mix Plants will come online in Balochistan towns of Awaran and Bella.
International SNG Expert spoke to the audience on SKYPE on the subject of ‘SNG and Pakistan’s Natural Gas Situation. He said that SNG has more than 75 years of historical application footprint worldwide. He described SNG as a vaporized LPG blended with air to a control ratio and said that this “blend” provides “fuel interchangeability” with natural gas. He described SNG as a bridge fuel to precede natural gas in new markets and added that it supplements natural gas in established markets. Mr. Eaton said that the location of an SNG Plant is very important since it helps provide access to LPG Supply, the existing infrastructure and appropriate “Injection Points” on grid. Mr. Eaton emphasized that in Pakistan, the presence of SSGC LPG Pvt. Ltd. (SLL) that operates a dedicated open access LPG terminal in Port Qasim Karachi is a major bonus since it provides an established supply chain and LPG handling and storage infrastructure facility.
In his address, CEO PIP Asim Murtaza Khan thanked all the speakers for their comprehensive presentations. He especially expressed gratitude to SSGC management for hosting this seminar and asked the PIP members present to provide recommendations and suggestions in the back drop of this seminar.
In conclusion, CEO PIP presented mementoes to the speakers, Amin Rajput, AMD, SSGC and Shahbaz Islam, AGM (Corporate Communications), SSGC.