The minister orders the uninterrupted supply of natural gas for the public during the winter

ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik on Monday directed gas companies to take all necessary steps to maintain a steady winter supply for domestic consumers.

Presiding over a meeting on seasonal gas load management, Malik said that all necessary measures should be taken to facilitate the public during the winter months and confirmed that the gas companies had been given the required instructions in this regard.

According to a statement, the managing directors of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) briefed the minister about the availability of natural gas across the country.

The meeting also discussed the issue of internal RLNG links, the statement added.

Malik noted that domestic gas supply this year was “significantly better” compared to last winter.

The managing director of SNGPL informed the meeting that consumers were getting natural gas not only during meal times but also from 5 am to 10 pm. Malik said that the improvement of the offer was done with the convenience of the public as the main priority.

Officials of the Directorate of Petroleum, SNGPL, SSGC and OGRA participated in the meeting.

Gas load shedding has become a major political and social problem in recent years. More than industry, it is the supply of natural gas to households that has been highlighted as a problem.

Pakistan has 0.4% of the world’s natural gas reserves and accounts for 1.1% of global consumption, according to Worldometer’s reserve countries data.

Gas is distributed through pipelines to households, which claim 50% of available supplies, followed by the fertilizer sector, independent power plants, and the industrial and CNG sectors.

Last month, the federal government officially began the process of providing regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) connections to domestic consumers across the country, marking the resumption of new domestic gas supplies after a four-year hiatus.

The government had imposed a ban on new gas connections in 2021 due to the rapid depletion of natural gas reserves, forcing many households to turn to more expensive alternatives such as LPG for cooking and heating.