Due to the shutdown of the Phase 1 of Zamzama Gas Field which substantially curtailed gas supply to SSGC, the latter's management once again took the various CNG associations into confidence by holding a meeting with their representatives to request them for closing down all CNG stations in Karachi and interior Sindh for two days. Azim Iqbal Siddiqui, MD, SSGC chaired the meeting held at the Company's Head Office in Karachi on October 15, 2011. Abdul Sami Khan, Chairman, CNG Dealers Association, Malik Khuda Baksh, Chairman, CNG Station Owners Association of Pakistan and Shabbir Sulemanjee, Chairman, All-Pakistan CNG Association and owners of CNG outlets participated in the discussions. Senior SSGC officials including Syed Hassan Nawab, DMD (Operations), Zuhair Siddiqui, DMD (Corporate Services), Shaukat Baloch, SGM (Transmission) and Mustafa Abdulla, GM (Distribution, Central-Karachi) represented the Company at the important meeting.

It was mutually agreed that since the supply of gas to SSGC from Phase 1 would be curtailed from the normal 130 mmcfd to 77 mmcfd, putting the Company's distribution system under intense pressure, CNG stations would observe closure on October 16 from Sunday 12 am till 12 pm on the following noon and again on Tuesday October 18 from 12 pm till noon of the following day.

The SSGC management stressed that the closure of CNG stations for 36 hours in two phases would help improve gas shortfall situation by 15 mmcfd. It maintained that the decision to request CNG stations to observe closure was a force majeure action taken to prevent the Company's distribution system from collapsing.

Thanking the CNG associations, MD, SSGC reiterated that the CNG sector has cooperated with SSGC during similar testing times in the past too. He pointed out that complaints of any station facing low pressure problems after the 2-day closure would be promptly attended to by the Company's Distribution team.