Gas supply under pressure

Commuters using vehicles fuelled by CNG in Islamabad and the surrounding areas are experiencing considerable inconvenience on account of the mandated weekly two-day gas holiday for CNG stations that began recently.

This is the first time that a regular suspension of gas supply has been imposed on CNG stations in the winter months since the promotion of natural gas as an environment-friendly fuel started some years ago. Given the advantages of CNG — lower prices, less polluting emissions and reduced dependence on imported oil — its popularity is not surprising. Within a decade Pakistan has become a world leader in CNG use, rivalling Brazil and Argentina for the top slot as the country with the largest number of CNG-powered vehicles and refuelling stations.

However, the gas holiday is a rude reminder of competing demands by the power, industrial, commercial, automotive and domestic sectors for gas, leading to strained supplies. There are longstanding complaints from the industrial sector about poor gas supply during winters when domestic consumption rises due to heating purposes. There are similar complaints about low gas pressure in homes in some localities. In fact, in some areas of the country there is no piped gas.

The obvious solution lies in stepping up investment in gas exploration to enhance overall supply. But each sector also needs to play its due role in addressing the overall problem by adopting measures to ensure sustainable supplies of gas countrywide. In the transport sector particularly an important measure involves supporting infrastructure and services that favour high-capacity public transportation like mass transit railways. Removal of the bottlenecks impeding these systems in Islamabad and other cities will enable a more efficient use of natural gas as a transport fuel. Generating renewable gas for fuelling vehicles by turning biogas produced in waste landfills into compressed gas should also be considered.