CM Sindh writes to PM Abbasi over diverting gas to other areas

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has written a letter to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi over diverting the province’s share of gas to other areas of the country.

The letter states that Sindh continues to produce over 2700 MMCFD gas while approximately 1000 MMCF is been diverted without any consent from the government of Sindh.

This is a clear violation of Article 158 and Article 172(3) of the constitution, and the arbitrary decision of the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) to divert gas to other parts of the country without consent is unconstitutional.

The allocation of gas will be beneficial to the entire nation as the government of Sindh intends to utilise 500-600 MMCFD gas to produce 3000 MW power, which would cost less than the current average power tariff, and rest for domestic and industrial consumers in Sindh.

According to the Energy Yearbook 2015 the daily natural gas production in Sindh has varied between 2700 to 2900 MMCFD in different years against consumption of 1650 MMCFD by all sectors in 2015. The power and fertiliser sectors consume the bulk, 589 MMCFD and 252 MMCFD respectively, which benefits the entire nation.

However, despite the surplus production, Sindh has been facing gas load shedding in CNG and industrial sector and no connection has been provided by the Sui Southern Gas Corporation, which is also a violation of Article 158.

Therefore, the chief minister requested the prime minister to allocate gas from all wells in the province to meet its its energy requirements in power, fertiliser, industrial, commercial and domestic sector.

He stated that the surplus gas may be diverted only after fullfilling the province’s requirements with the consent of the provincial government.

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