165 Villages, Towns Gasified In Last Fiscal Year

The two state companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), have gasified 165 villages and town besides laying 69 kilometer (KM) transmission, 3,232 KM distribution and 1,366 KM service lines during an eight-month period (July-February) of fiscal year 2018-19

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jul, 2019 ) :The two state companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), have gasified 165 villages and town besides laying 69 kilometer (KM) transmission, 3,232 KM distribution and 1,366 KM service lines during an eight-month period (July-February) of fiscal year 2018-19.

According to official data available with APP, the two utility companies provided 428,305 additional gas connections including 425,404 domestic, 2,770 commercial and 131 industrial across the country.

The companies are expecting that they would provide gas supply to approximately 430,695 new consumers during the current fiscal year.

Besides, they have planned to invest Rs 7,161 million on transmission projects, Rs 48,288 million on distribution projects and Rs 18,556 million on other projects bringing the total investment around Rs 74 billion.

Pakistan has an extensive gas network of over 12,971 KM transmission 139,827 KM distribution and 37,058 services gas pipelines to cater the requirement of more than 9.6 million consumers across the country.

For viable growth of this sector, the government has approved provision of Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to this sector with fiscal incentives of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) at the rate of zero and Sales Tax at the rate of five percent.

The government is pursuing a strategy for enhancing indigenous gas production as well as ensuring smooth supply of gas import to meet increasing demand of energy in the country.

Meanwhile, a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP that the SSGC was in the process of setting up 10 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) air-mix plants in selected areas of Balochistan to facilitate consumers where natural gas supply does not exist.

In the first phase, he said, as many as ten sites in different localities of the province including in Uthal, Kharan, Khuzdar, Washuk, Killi Khanozai, Loralai, Killa Saifullah, Zhob, Kech (Turbat) and Muslim Bagh had been identified at the state land and handed over to the company for the purpose.

While in second and third phase, the company would install 23 more plants in selected areas after seeing its financial position and analyzing actual data and results of the ten LPG units, he added.

Answering a question, the official said, the SSGC had got five licences from Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority to construct the LPG plants in Uthal, Kharan, Khuzdar, Muslim Bagh and Turbat, while it was actively pursuing for issuance of construction licences for the remaining locations.

The plants are aimed at providing gas facility to the population in the areas where facility of natural gas is not available and discouraging deforestation. At the units, the LPG will be mixed with air to produce synthetic gas for onward supply to the consumers through distribution network like natural gas.