PakistanTimesNews With the country's system line pack reaching 5.070 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), the state's gas transmission infrastructure is under extreme pressure.

This is largely because the industrial and electrical sectors are using more liquefied natural gas, or LNG. In an attempt to reduce line pack pressure, sui gas providers provide pricey RLNG to the home market even after summer officially begins.

Reports on Gas

Senior officials in the energy ministry disclosed that this will result in further price increases for gas sold across the nation. "If the gas volume increases beyond this limit, the gas transmission system can burst at any time, exposing the nation to a gas and electricity crisis," stated the officials. "The maximum gas volume in the pipeline is 4,500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd)."

The line pack continued to surge above the dead level during the Eid break, reaching a peak in the final week of March 2024 at 5.003 bcfd. To take advantage of the decreasing line pack pressure, the domestic sector is receiving a daily injection of 50–100 mmcfd of RLNG. 150–250 mmcfd were originally supposed to be diverted for the residential area.

It is true that the system becomes fairly sensitive when pressures in the line pack surpass five bcfd. The authorities assert that Sui Company finds it easier to transfer RLNG to the domestic sector even though domestic gas demand has sharply declined in Punjab and Sindh as summer approaches and gas is no longer required for heating in the two aforementioned federating units.

Gas Sui

Domestic users are consequently required to pay a substantial premium in order to make up for the RLNG diversion. The government has already increased gas prices by up to 193% in order to meet its income target of Rs902 billion in 2023–2024, even though it only needed to earn Rs701 billion in revenue for the current fiscal year. Customers will therefore be responsible for the anticipated Rs232 billion in LNG diversion costs.

Officials in the petroleum division object to Sui Northern's ongoing diversion of RLNG to relieve pressure on line packs, but Sui Company continues to do so. Even RLNG, which costs Rs3,700, is less expensive than gas, which many wealthy domestic consumers pay Rs4,200 Mmcfd.

Additionally, the government has capped the gas flow at 150 mmcfd from five adjacent gas sources. Though doing so to protect the gas transmission system may cause issues, it is feasible to cause virtually empty wells to sink and never rise back to their previous natural gas flow level. It will cost a lot of money to do the artificial lift techniques needed to get these wells to begin producing water. Therefore, when local gas resources begin to yield less gas, it is very risky to continue producing local gas at the current rate.