PM to review winter gas plan and LNG cargo needs
Petroleum ministry will brief Shehbaz Sharif on household supply, power-sector demand and the 24 LNG cargoes the division estimates winter may require.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is to be briefed by the Ministry of Petroleum on the country's gas situation, with domestic supply, power-sector requirements and imported LNG on the agenda, ProPakistani reported, citing official sources.
The briefing is also expected to cover prevailing international gas prices and the country's overall supply and demand position, and to set out how much RLNG is required, particularly for power generation, alongside the gas available to households. According to the report, it will give an overview of the country's gas needs and supply position, including the role of imported gas in meeting domestic and electricity generation requirements.
The government is preparing a winter load management plan running from November 2026 to February 2027. Under the proposal, domestic consumers would have first call on locally produced gas, with household supplies concentrated in peak cooking hours, while RLNG would be directed to power generation and industry.
The Petroleum Division's projections show demand on the SNGPL network roughly doubling over winter, from about 550 million cubic feet per day to 1,100 mmcfd. Demand on the SSGC network is projected to rise from 300 mmcfd to 500 mmcfd.
To meet that load, the division has estimated that 24 LNG cargoes may be needed, of which nine would go to power generation and 15 to domestic consumers, with two of the latter held as contingency supply.
Procurement remains unsettled. ProPakistani reported that uncertainty over deliveries from Qatar and the high cost of buying on the spot market have complicated the arrangements, and that the plan is still awaiting approval. The report gave no date for when the plan might be approved or when cargo arrangements would be finalised.
The briefing comes as the government works out how to balance household cooking and heating demand against the requirements of power plants and industry through the coldest months, when gas use rises sharply across both the SNGPL and SSGC networks.
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