Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday announced the resumption of new gas connections for domestic consumers, ending a four-year ban imposed in 2021 amid the country’s gas shortages.
As per reports, speaking at a ceremony marking the launch of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) connections, the prime minister said the move fulfills a long-standing public demand. “There was immense pressure from all sides for new gas connections, but we could not provide them earlier due to supply constraints. Today, that chapter has closed,” he said.
Sharif said the previous government had allocated funds and built infrastructure for new pipelines, but gas availability had remained the main challenge. “The infrastructure was ready, but there was no gas to supply. Now, new RLNG connections are being opened,” he said, adding that hundreds of thousands of applications for new connections have already been received.
The prime minister recalled that when his party took office in 2013, Pakistan was facing up to 20 hours of daily load-shedding. “We ended that darkness, and today we are taking another step toward energy stability,” he said.
Last month, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that the federal cabinet had approved the resumption of new gas connections nationwide. He said both Sui gas companies had completed procurement processes for meters and pipelines and would begin processing pending applications once formal notification was issued.
Malik stated that existing applicants would have the option to convert their requests into RLNG-based connections by paying a security fee to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA). He noted that while RLNG would remain costlier than domestic gas, it would still be 30–35 percent cheaper than liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
He added that Pakistan currently has a surplus of RLNG and sufficient electricity generation capacity, with efforts underway to improve governance and sustainability in the energy sector.
