The Qadirpur Field was shut down because of flooding on Tuesday causing suspension of gas supply of 375mmcfd. The utility had to close its compression plant in Bhong in south Punjab after it was inundated by flood waters.
“Our staff is working day and night to clean up the field for restoring full gas supply disrupted by floods by Thursday,” the SNGPL's head of transmission K W Shariq, told Dawn on Wednesday.
He was, however, not sure when would gas supplies of 100mmfcd from another gas field in Kandhkot resume. “The field is operated by the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL). We do not know how long it will take to restore gas supplies from there,” he said.
The gas supplies to thousands of industrial units in Punjab and KP and power plants were cut off on account of supply disruptions to avoid load management for domestic consumers. The restoration of supplies from the Qadirpur would largely bridge the current gas deficit in Punjab and KP and is expected to improve power generation.
After the shutdown of the compression plant Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Naveed Qamar had said that the gas load-shedding might worsen. “All sectors, excluding domestic consumers, will face more gas load shedding due to suspension of gas supplies from Qadirpur Gas Field,” he said.
Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had told reporters that disruption in the supply of natural gas and fuel oil because of severe damage due to flooding to some major installations and transportation network had resulted in a shortfall of more than 3,500MW of electricity leading up to seven hours of load-shedding across the country.
The power shortage will persist longer than estimated also because of a delay in the commissioning of some under-construction power projects, which were nearing completion. Six power stations of about 1,500MW are already off the national grid.
In the meanwhile, businessmen said gas supply suspension to industrial units could lead to heavy closures, massive job losses and cancellation of export orders worth billions of rupees.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry demanded that the gas shortages should be shared by all sectors equally across the country rather than punishing the industry in Punjab alone.
The SNGPL has, however, withdrawn its earlier decision cutting off gas supplies to the industrial units for five days a month in addition to the previously agreed weekly holiday. The utility withdrew its decision after a meeting with Aptma Punjab chairman Gohar Ijaz.
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