SSGC Board directed to formulate reform strategy with special focus on UFG control

Federal Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik has instructed the board of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to draft a reform strategy centred on cutting unaccounted-for gas (UFG), according to Mettis Global. The instruction followed a Karachi meeting in which the minister, the chairman and directors, the managing director and senior executives reviewed the company's performance and future priorities. He asked for a plan that makes the utility self-sustaining, lifts operational efficiency and staff capacity, reduces losses and gas theft, and improves revenue recovery.

Management told the meeting that UFG has dropped by roughly 57 per cent in volume terms. K-Electric, industrial users and fertiliser plants are getting gas without load shedding, and households receive supply three times a day. Gas prices have not been raised in the past year, and the growth in gas circular debt has been almost halted, the minister observed. He also called for replacing the slab-based subsidy system with one fair price for all consumers, while vulnerable groups get targeted social protection.

On Balochistan, the board welcomed a political committee set up under the Deputy Prime Minister to examine the province's problems. The minister ordered that gas supply issues there be resolved on a priority basis, along with technical faults, infrastructure limits and theft. The government is also working with the World Bank on wider gas sector reforms.