Daily Times

The strategy adopted by the government to bring down Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) ratio has started yielding required results as the per month gas losses witnessed a significant decrease of 36 percent during the last fiscal year.

“The average monthly loss of High UFG areas was 1,348 MMCF [Million Cubic Feet] in FY 2019-20 which has now been reduced to 859 MMCF during FY 2020-21,” according to an official report available with APP.

Overall, the government had given the two-state companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), a target of reducing the UFG by 13.55 per cent (58,869 MMCF gas) during a three-year period from 2019-2020 to 2021-22.

In 2019-20, the SNGPL and SSGC had prevented a volumetric loss of around 9,938 MMCF gas against the UFG reduction target of 14,806 MMCF gas. The UFG is a phenomenon of gas loss that occurred due to various technical factors when gas flowed from fields to end consumers.

“It is calculated as the difference between metered gas volume injected into the transmission and distribution network (Point of Dispatch/Delivery) and the metered gas delivered to the end consumers (Consumer Meter Station) during a financial year,” a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP. In line with the government policy to reduce line loss, he said the gas companies were taking all possible measures to bring down the UFG ratio gradually in the coming years.

Under the strategy, the official said, inspection of all industrial, commercial and domestic consumers was being carried out regularly to prevent gas theft by taking prompt action against unauthorized connections and illegal networks. The UFG, the official said, being one of the most critical elements in the gas sector, played a critical role in reducing the profitability of the gas transmission and distribution companies.

The official said almost all industrial customers had been ‘Cyber Locked’ by restricting unauthorized access to the customer meter stations and allowing entry to authorized personnel only. Besides, he said, Electronic Volume Correctors had been installed at almost all the industries for strict check and balance on gas consumption and abnormalities.