The government says natural gas will only be supplied for 8 hours in winter

• Gas will only be available in the morning, afternoon, evening.
• The minister says the government has mandated LNG to deal with the shortage.
• 2 shipments have been arranged for December, the government will order more for January.

ISLAMABAD: After a massive hike in natural gas tariffs, caretaker energy minister Muhammad Ali dealt another blow to the masses when he announced that natural gas will be available only for 8 hours a day during the winter season, he said. The news the manufacture.

In a press conference together with caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi, the energy minister said the government would not be able to supply natural gas around the clock and clarified that it would only be available in the morning, afternoon and evening.

He also shared that two LNG cargoes have been arranged for December 2023 to address the shortage as much as possible and that they are also planning to order two LNG cargoes for January 2024.

In Pakistan, 30% of the country uses piped natural gas, while 70%, mostly in rural areas, relies on burning wood and LPG. Of the natural gas users, more than half have been isolated by the increase in tariffs. He also noted that the rich in urban areas were getting piped gas at 25% of what the poor in rural areas were paying for LPG.

The minister said that there are 10 million domestic gas connections and the government did not increase the gas tariff by 57% as they were mostly low income people and were on protected slabs. However, he added that the flat rate of Rs 10 has been increased to Rs 400/month. Their monthly bill was earlier Rs 200 to Rs 900, which will now be Rs 600 to Rs 1,300/month. The government is trying to bring it close to the price of LPG, he added.

Ali said 57% of domestic consumers consumed 31% of the total natural gas. After the increase they would pay 11% of the total cost of natural gas for the residential sector.

“3% and the rich consumed 17% and paid 39%. Similarly, middle plate consumers, who are 39% of all household consumers, consume 52% of natural gas and pay 49%.

He also said that the gas tariff for the electricity sector and tandoors has not been increased. The fertilizer sector had also been insulated from growth, he said.

In the commercial sector (including hotels and restaurants), the tariff has been leveled at Rs 3,600 per mmBtu.

Earlier, there were two types of tariffs for them, one was Rs 1,100/mmBtu for local gas consumers (mainly old connections) and Rs 3,600/mmBtu for RLNG based supplies. Local gas connection volume was 49% and RLNG was 51%.

Meanwhile, the tariff for the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector has been increased to 80% of petrol prices. Earlier, the price of CNG was almost half the price of petrol. Now it will be 80% of the price of gasoline.

The minister said the caretaker government has frozen the cyclical debt of the energy sector after increasing electricity and gas tariffs in line with its commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, it warned that in the next two years, local pipeline gas will not be available to households and they will have to switch to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and will not lift the embargo on new gas connections.

The minister said that the government has stopped adding to the cyclical debt of the energy sector and it will not increase from now and that this has happened for the first time in the last 10 to 15 years.

He added that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved an increase in gas tariffs and now, after the approval of the federal cabinet, the new prices will be implemented.