ISLAMABAD: People of Pakistan have to bear another burden in account of gas consumption as Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources has urged the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to approve collection of Rs67 billion from gas consumers of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) within 6 months.
Sources said that the government was also considering hiking of gas tariff for the first six months and would collect Rs67 billion through this raise. “SNGPL and SSGC could be bankrupt, if this raise is not carried out”, they added.
Meanwhile, SSGC has blamed Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for delay in finalising annual accounts.
The gas utility was due to present its fiscal year 2013-14’s account for approval at the annual shareholders’ meeting in October.
The tariff of SSGC and SNGPL is regulated by Ogra, which decides how much the companies generate by charging consumers and how much they spend in the financial year.
As per the last announced results, SSGC had posted a net profit of Rs1.6 billion in the nine months to March 2013, whereas SNGPL incurred a loss of Rs2.1 billion during the same period.
On the other hand, the Ogra spokesperson said it has completed all the formalities due on its part, prepared the petitions and submitted its report to the government. It is now awaiting a final decision in the matter.
