SSGC fixes three daily gas slots for homes as govt overhauls LPG market

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on Wednesday announced the winter gas supply schedule for domestic consumers in Sindh and Balochistan, fixing three slots a day around meal times, Dawn and The Express Tribune reported.

The schedule

An SSGC spokesperson told Dawn that the schedule is in line with federal government directives and takes effect immediately. The company shared the timings on its website and on social media, saying it was “prioritising domestic consumers by ensuring supply during meal times”. According to the schedule it posted on X:

• Breakfast: 6.30am to 9am
• Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm
• Dinner: 6pm to 9pm

SSGC said the arrangement was meant to manage the gas load effectively this winter. Dawn noted that the company’s consumers have not had round-the-clock supply for some years.

Why the announcement came now

The schedule followed a bad day in Karachi. On Tuesday a severe gas crisis gripped the city, and the confusion was made worse by several contradictory supply schedules attributed to SSGC that had been circulating on social media since Monday. The utility had not issued a clear, consolidated statement until late on Tuesday evening, Dawn reported.

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said the government would make every effort to meet winter gas demand, particularly during meal times. He said household demand was expected to rise by 400 to 500 million cubic feet a day, and that alternative arrangements for imported liquefied natural gas would be made to meet it.

The government’s LPG overhaul

On Tuesday, the government announced what it called sweeping reforms to open the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector to competition, improve supply and curb profiteering. Malik said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had asked for maximum relief for low-income groups. The main points are:

• The quota-based distribution system will be abolished.
• Locally produced LPG will be auctioned in transparent lots of five to 10 tonnes among companies licensed by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), with results made public and the process monitored by the petroleum secretary and the Ogra chairman.
• State-owned companies including Pakistan State Oil, SSGC and Pakistan LNG Limited have been told to arrange bulk supplies through government-to-government and business-to-business agreements, and private firms will be encouraged to import.
• Importers will have to publish monthly cost components on their websites, including Saudi Aramco’s contract price, premiums and freight.
• Price stabilisation and vulnerable consumers’ protection funds will be set up so that deserving households can buy LPG at subsidised rates.
• The Competition Commission has been asked to act against cartels, and Ogra will tighten licensing and audits to prevent hoarding.

Malik said domestic LPG production is about 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes a day, and that a large part of demand has traditionally been met by imports from the western border. Supply disruptions let some market players sell at Rs700 to Rs800 a kilogramme. He said Saudi Aramco’s contract price had risen from $540 a tonne in March to $756, which led to a revision of domestic prices, and that the prevailing spot-market price, after costs, was estimated at Rs450 to Rs500 a kilogramme. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the government had ended the LPG monopoly and discretionary quotas.

Speaking at the federal cabinet on Wednesday, the prime minister said the first auction is expected next week and will be held under camera surveillance. At his request, the petroleum minister named SSGC’s LPG subsidiary, Pakistan LNG Limited and PARCO Pearl Gas as the state-owned companies in the new arrangement. The prime minister said profits from the mechanism would go to the treasury and then be used to subsidise LPG for ordinary consumers.

Why it matters

For households in Karachi and across Sindh and Balochistan, the schedule at least gives a published timetable after days of rumour. The schedule says when gas will be supplied, not that more of it will be available. Whether the timings hold is the first test.

The LPG reforms address a different pain point. Our earlier reports described LPG cylinders selling at twice the official price and LPG reaching Rs750 a kilogramme in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The government’s plan targets exactly that gap between the official and the street price. What to watch is when the first auction takes place, who wins the lots, whether prices ease from the Rs700 to Rs800 seen during supply disruptions towards the minister’s Rs450 to Rs500 estimate, and whether SSGC keeps to its three slots through the coldest weeks.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn and The Express Tribune.