ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub said during a meeting of the senate standing committee held here today that the problem of gas load shedding will continue in the coming winter.
The minister said that local gas production is low while demand is increasing so there will be gas load shedding in the coming winter. He also said that the total demand for gas in the country is up to 7.5 billion cubic feet per day, while the production is falling short by 3.5 billion cubic feet per day.
He informed that the requirements of Sindh province are approximately 1.56 billion cubic feet annually, which merely leaves 261 million cubic feet out of the total gas production to be given to Punjab. This year, however, the demand for Sindh is likely to go up further, possibly leading to no surplus to be sent to other provinces, or even creating shortage in Sindh itself.
He said that all the provinces have to take a joint decision on the gas shortage, the whole situation has been discussed in the Council of Common Interests and the CCI has urged the provinces to address the issue of gas shortage.
