KARACHI: Various areas of Karachi are facing 20 to 22 hours long gas outages amid the cold weather conditions.

A spokesperson for the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said gap in demand and supply of natural gas has topped 300 million metric cubic feet per day (mmcfd) as the total demand stands at 1,269 mmcfd compared to total supplies of 952 mmcfd.

“The gas shortfall has reached 302 mmcfd for the first time,” the spokesperson said, adding the shortfall went up due to a fault at a gas field disrupting supply of about 85 mmcfd of gas. He said 25 mmcfd gas from the field has been restored, hoping that it would be fully functional by this evening. On Sunday, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) announced that industrial areas in Sindh and Balochistan will observe a one-day closure on a rotational basis.

In this connection, a notification was also issued by the gas utility. As per the notification, all industrial bodies, including export units, have agreed with the SSGC that a one-day planned industrial closure will be observed on a rotational basis by each industrial area for a period of one month, effective from today (December 26) till January 25, 2022.