Mixed reaction on Sindh CNG stations closure

KARACHI - The owners of the CNG stations of Sindh will have to suffer loss of around Rs 0.2 million each due to the planned one-day loadshedding for the energy conservation. According to a manager of the local CNG station Saeed Ahmed Khan the one days sale of his pump will decline up to 3pc on Friday and the workers will have to remain idle for the whole day. Around 800 vehicles get CNG from our station that transects the sale of 0.2m for one day, he added. More than 2.6m vehicles use CNG fuel in the country where 3010 gas stations and land value in the sector comes to Rs 175b. While on the other hand the chairman of the CNG Station Owners Association Sindh, Khuda Bux has said that the loadshedding on Fridays will not affect more on the sale of the gas because most of the stations usually remain close for 3 to 4 hours for prayer break. Its a good decision by the govt and the SSGC officials to close the stations on Fridays and it will not affect more on the sale volume he added. He said the gas saved would be delivered to the power sector in Sindh (KESC, Jamshoro Power Plant and Kotri Power Station) to improve power supply to Karachi and the interior of Sindh. According to the governments claim a one-day closure of gas stations would save 10 MMCFD (million-cubic-feet-a-day) gas in Sindh and Balochistan. However experts said it was hard to believe that the step would help conserve that much gas.