Gas will only be available for eight hours in winter

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Power Minister Muhammad Ali has said that gas will only be available for eight hours in the winters.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said gas load shedding will be held this year as well amid depleting natural reserves in the country.

“The load shedding will occur this year as well because we don’t have enough gas to supply it for 24 hours,” the interim minister said.

The minister said the load shedding plan was being devised to ensure a gas supply for eight hours similar to the previous year.  He said the natural gas reserves have further depleted by 18 percent compared to the last year.

The minister also expressed hope that the issue of gas shortage for industry in December will be resolved to a greater extent as two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes have been finalised.

He said were being made to ensure the availability of gas to domestic, industrial and fertilizer sectors with minimum gas load management in the coming winter season.

“We have only two LNG terminals and limited natural gas but today we have finalised two LNG cargoes for December, which would help address the gas supply issues in December for the industry. The gas supply was also being improved for the fertilizer sector,” he added.

Regarding the crackdown on power theft, the minister said an amount of Rs16 billion had been collected from electricity defaulters so far which would further continue.

He said it had been decided to change the board of directors (BoDs) of all the power distribution companies (DISCOs). He said the management of DISCOs would be handed over to the private sector on long-term concession.