SNGPL extends new gas connection ban with no restoration date

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited has extended its suspension of new domestic gas connections indefinitely, and commercial connections for tandoors and hotels have also been stopped from this month. Company officials said the Ministry of Petroleum imposed the restriction and that connections are unlikely to be restored until the war between Iran and the United States ends.

Daily Times and ProPakistani both reported the extension, citing SNGPL officials and company sources. Thousands of applicants who have already paid the urgent processing fee are still waiting, and no date has been given for when their connections will be installed.

The company blamed disrupted supplies of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG). The gap between demand and the gas available in the existing distribution network has widened, and the arrival of winter has pushed demand up sharply, making uninterrupted supply difficult even for current domestic consumers.

ProPakistani reported that the government first halted new connections in April this year over the same RLNG disruption, and that the suspension has now been extended without a stated end date.

For households without piped gas, LPG is the main alternative, and it is getting costlier. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority set the official price of an 11.8-kg domestic cylinder at Rs 3,470.09 for November, up Rs 173.86 from October. ProPakistani reported that LPG is selling at about Rs 600 per kg in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other parts of the country, which puts a cylinder at roughly Rs 7,080, about Rs 3,610 above the notified rate. A family using two cylinders a month in winter would pay around Rs 14,160 at market rates against Rs 6,940 at the official price.

The government is reviewing its LPG policy as prices climb, according to the same report.

Consumers who paid the urgent fee have no timetable for installation. Officials linked the restoration of new connections to an improvement in gas supplies.