ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: New housing societies would have 50 percent increased gas quota as the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division would soon increase the quota from 200 to 300 connections per scheme, official sources said.
“The National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum has recommended the increase and the Petroleum Division will start implementing on it as soon as the meeting minutes are approved,” official sources told the state-run news agency in Islamabad.
Sources said the gas connections would be given on first come and first served basis.
Besides, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum had recommended that the Sui Northern Gas Company Limited (SNGPL) would give two million gas connections during the current fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The recommendations came after the committee observed that the energy crisis had been overcome by the government to great extent due to import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG) for overcoming the energy crisis.
Official sources said the SNGPL issued 1.5 million new connections since the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government came into power in 2013, and hopefully the figure would reach 2.5 million till completion of its tenure.
They said with the import of LNG, the energy situation had improved across the Country including in Punjab where 40 percent gas supply had reduced after the 18th constitutional amendment.
While answering a question, sources said during tenure of the current government, 466 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) additional gas from new discoveries and 478 mmcfd gas from existing fields while 11,149 barrels per day (bpd) oil from new finds and 21,194 bpd from existing wells had so far been added in the system.
They informed that SNGPL and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) had planned to invest Rs 12,702 million on transmission projects, Rs 43,045 million on distribution projects and Rs 8,462 million on other projects during the current year.
