As violent energy riots raged in various cities and towns, President Asif Ali Zardari here on Friday ordered an immediate end to gas load-shedding for domestic consumers and elimination of circular debt in the power sector that has bulged to Rs400 billion, crippling the power generation system, in six months.
Mr Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani headed a meeting at the presidency to discuss the energy crisis.
The meeting ordered some short-term measures for easing gas and petrol shortages and a few mid-term solutions to lessen load-shedding.
The measures included an assurance of daily supply of 30,000 tons of furnace oil to power generation companies which will likely add 2,700 megawatts of electricity to the system by month�s end.
The industrial sector has borne the brunt of the relief announced for domestic consumers. The gas shortage now amounts to 707 billion cubic feet a day and the ministry of petroleum believes that load-management is the only option to deal with the crisis.
Sources told Dawn the president was also informed that relief for domestic consumers meant a prolonged closure of factories, translating to more than an expected decline in industrial growth.
There is also this from Geo TV…
Gas crisis in the country continued unabated, as the supply and demand gap has widened up to 700mmcfd (million, million cubic feet per day).
The intensifying shortage of gas supply has now hit over 2500 industrial units in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and other cities/towns, whose supplies remain severed for the last several days and were forced to lockout, which has severely hit the production process resulting difficulties in meeting the export orders deadline and rendering the workers to unemployment in large numbers.
I am amazed that this is not receiving more coverage in the western press.