Sui Southern Gas Company Limited

active

In February 2004, Government of Pakistan (GoP) divested an additional 10% of its stake in Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), an integrated gas utility with exclusive distribution and sale license in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, for US$ 29.8 million through a secondary public offering in the local Pakistani capital markets. SSGC’s transmission network comprised of 2,942 km of high pressure pipeline from Sui in Balochistan to Karachi in Sindh. The distribution network of over 25,764 Km covered 120 towns and 930 villages in Sindh and Balochistan. The Company sold 337,638 million cubic feet (MMCF) of natural gas during the year 2004-2005 to about 1.8 million industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. The company was originally listed on the Pakistani stock exchange in 1956. SSGCL was formed by the merger of three companies, namely Sui Gas Transmission Company Limited, Karachi Gas Company Limited and Indus Gas Company Limited, in March 1989. As of June 2005, the GoP directly owned 60.43% of SSGCL shares and held another 18.19% indirectly through entities in which the government had a majority shareholding. The remaining shares (21.38%) were held by general public and institutions. In September 2003, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), a statutory body created to regulate Pakistan’s oil and gas sectors, granted a 30 year license to SSGCL. Under the license, SSGCL’s monopoly on the sale of gas would end in 2010. None None