KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh on Tuesday refuted a statement given by federal Minister for Energy Umar Ayub Khan about gas production in the country.

Talking to Dawn, he said as per the statistics of the Petroleum Div­ision gas production in the country was 3.94 billion cubic feet daily (bcfd), while Sindh produced 2.54 bcfd or 64.5 per cent of the total.

“As per the statistics given by the federal government, Sindh uses 1.74 bcfd out of 2.54 bcfd it produces,” he added.

The provincial energy minister said Sindh would not have much excess gas next year which could be provided to other provinces.

He said on an average basis Sindh purchased 0.9 to 1 bcfd of gas daily.

Mr Sheikh said the gas supplied by the Sui Southern Gas Company was used more in January and February due to winter season.

He said that supplying gas produced in Sindh to other parts of the country without the permission of the provincial government was a violation of Article 158 of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2020