PM Shehbaz Demands Audit of Sui Gas Companies

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has demanded the Ministry of Energy to conduct a financial audit of Sui Northern Gas Company Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). These companies receive gas from public sector exploration and production (E&P) firms but are not paying them back, reported a national daily. Both companies are using expensive RLNG (Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas) without reimbursing Pakistan State Oil (PSO). The audit, to be completed within a month, will be handled by KPMG. It will investigate the reasons behind the gas utilities’ failure to pay back E&P companies and PSO. KPMG will also examine the revenue of gas companies, government subsidies, and gas prices set by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. The audit is expected to help determine the impact of recent gas price hikes and whether the Sui companies have paid dues to E&P firms like OGDCL, GHPL, and PPL. The outstanding payments to these E&P companies have reached Rs. 1.732 trillion. The financial audit will also shed light on why the circular debt in the gas sector has reached Rs. 2.9 trillion. A significant portion of this debt, Rs. 1 trillion, has accumulated due to stagnant gas prices over the past decade.