SNGPL launches massive crackdown against gas theft in Punjab, KP

In response to an announcement made by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on Thursday regarding an upcoming “massive crackdown” against gas theft in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, authorities swiftly took action in Islamabad, apprehending over 30 individuals accused of illicitly using gas.

SNGPL Managing Director, Amir Tufail, expressed their firm determination to launch large-scale operations in their service areas, covering Punjab and KP, emphasizing a zero-tolerance approach towards gas pilferage during a press conference.

Mr. Tufail also addressed potential law and order challenges in oil and gas-producing regions, specifically in Karak and neighboring areas in KP. He noted that, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and the federal government, the company had already succeeded in reducing gas losses by 66 percent.

Over the past three years, field teams conducted operations that resulted in the resolution of more than 325,000 cases related to gas pilferage, amounting to Rs2.4 billion. Additionally, these teams filed 803 FIRs with various police stations across both provinces during the same period.

The MD highlighted significant progress in reducing Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) or line losses. Surpassing the government’s UFG reduction target of 18BCF for the 2019-2022 period, SNGPL achieved a reduction of 23BCF, translating to savings of approximately Rs12.5 billion.

Furthermore, the company took measures such as installing cyber locks on suspicious industrial connections to detect tampering and rectifying leakages along its extensive 87,000km network over the last three years.

Mr. Tufail underscored the zero-tolerance policy against gas theft, which had resulted in disciplinary actions against 361 unscrupulous employees, including termination, demotion, salary stoppage, and withholding of increments.

Regarding the lifting of the ban on new connections, he clarified that this decision would ultimately rest with the government of Pakistan.