CNG stations closed in Sindh and Balochistan

KARACHI: All CNG stations in Sindh and Balochistan were closed for 24 hours on Friday as part of energy conservation plan adopted to overcome energy crisis, Geo News reported.

Gas load shedding has also begun in industrial areas.

Compressed natural gas station owners in Sindh and Balochistan on Wednesday agreed to observe one-day weekly off as part of the government”s plan to conserve gas in the country.

According to the agreed minutes of a meeting held in Karachi, the CNG stations of the two provinces will remain closed from 12:00 noon on Friday.

Some station owners in Hyderabad kept the sale of CNG continue defying all orders.

Commuters were was difficulties due to unavailability of the gas.

Meanwhile, factories in various industrial estates of Karachi will remain closed on alternate days.

But only those factories, which do not run round-the-clock seven days a week, will be asked to pull the plug, said Saleem Parekh, Chairman, SITE Association of Industry.

“Industry in SITE will be closed on Monday,” he said.

According to the agreed formula, factories in Landhi, Korangi, Federal B Area and North Karachi will remained closed on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Shahid Ismail, Chairman, Federal B Area Association of Trade and Industry, said around 50 per cent of the units will be closed in his industrial estate for a day.

“These are value-added factories, which run six days a week. But they make buttons, laces, threads and other things used by other companies. Everyone is going to get affected,” he said.

Analysts said substantial surge in the power deficit to over 5,000MW necessitates that additional gas supplies are made available for increasing output of thermal power plants. A decrease in hydel generation has put fuel supply chain under further stress.

Domestic gas production remained stagnant at 4,000MMCFD, but the actual supply is around 3,600MMCFD against the demand of 4,700MMCFD.