A parliamentary committee has revealed that gas theft and leakage are causing an annual loss of Rs 60 billion to the national exchequer, raising serious concerns over governance in the energy sector.

The disclosure was made during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee held at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Syed Mustafa Mahmood. During the session, committee member Gul Asghar Khan called for the privatization of both state-run gas companies, arguing that running commercial enterprises is not the government’s job. He said the massive annual losses ultimately burden ordinary citizens.

Managing Director of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Aamir Tufail, informed the committee that the company’s unaccounted-for gas losses due to theft and leakage stand at 5.27 percent, which is even lower than targets set by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. He estimated Sui Northern’s annual financial impact at around Rs 30 billion.

Similarly, the MD of Sui Southern Gas Company, Amin Rajput, said his company’s annual losses are also about Rs 30 billion, though loss ratios have been reduced from 17 percent to 10 percent.

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The committee also expressed alarm over the growing circular debt in the gas sector. The Director General Gas Division stated that total circular debt has reached Rs 3,283 billion, including Rs 1,452 billion in late payment surcharges.

Officials further briefed the panel about newly identified lithium reserves in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kotli, while a development budget exceeding Rs 4 billion has been proposed for the next fiscal year.