KARACHI: CNG stations in the city will reopen from today after the government made alternative arrangements to provide furnace oil to feed the power sector, central chairman of All Pakistan CNG Association Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said.
Paracha told The News on Saturday the government had previously announced to shut down all CNG stations in Sindh and Punjab for an indefinite period.
“We raised our voice across the power corridor and by evening, the secretary petroleum as well as Special Assistant to Prime Minister Nadeem Babar confirmed government’s decision to open fueling stations from Sunday,” he said. “Government has arranged furnace oil to feed the power generators.”
Paracha said the sector was already closed in Sindh for the last two days as gas was being diverted to K-Electric.
In a letter addressing petroleum pump owners, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) earlier said CNG stations would be closed from Friday to Sunday (closure of 48 hours) to divert gas to K-Electric. K-Electric is unable to meet the city’s demand due to unavailability of sufficient amount of furnace oil for its power plants. Last month, SSGC directed an additional 50 million metric cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas to K-Electric.
Moreover, gas supply to captive power plants was also announced to remain close for three days, from Friday to Sunday.
An SSGC official said the system was facing a shortfall of 300mmcfd.
