Up to 400mmcfd gas production likely by year-end

Local gas production is likely to go up by up to 400mmcfd by the end of December 2014, which would enable the government to reduce gas load-shedding for industry and CNG outlets, Petroleum Ministry officials claimed. Talking to Business Recorder an official of the Petroleum Ministry said that gas/oil has already been discovered at a number of blocks and now the gas companies are working to connect these oil/gas fields with the gas distribution system.
He added that besides increase in the local gas production, the government is committed to bringing 200 Million Cubic Feet per Day of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and this combined addition of up to 600mmcfd of gas will significantly reduce gas shortage. "During the past one year exploration and production companies, working in the upstream oil/gas sector, drilled 73 oil/gas wells and 17 discoveries have been made so far. We already have added 230 mmcfd of gas and over 9,500 barrels of crude oil to the system since coming into power," the official maintained.
The additional gas will be added to the system from the following gas fields: up to 120 mmcfd additional gas would be added to the system from Makhori Gas Field and up to 25 mmcfd from Zarghum Gas field by March 25, 2014. Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) is also to add 230-150 mmcfd of gas to the system in June 2014 from Och and Kunar Pasaki gas fields, while Pakistan Petroleum Limited, MOL Pakistan and OMV are also set to add up to 100 mmcfd gas to the system.
As per officials, the additional gas will be added to the system from the following reservoirs: (i) up to 100 mmcfd additional gas is expected from Latif Gas Field, (ii) 18 mmcfd Mehar Gas Field, (iii) 25 mmcfd Zarghoon Gas Field, (iv) 150 mmcfd OGDCL, and (v) 120 mmcfd MOL from Tal Block.
Besides addition in local gas production, crude oil production is also likely to soar from current level of 84,000 barrels per day to 100,000 barrels per day by the end of 2014. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) production is also likely to increase from current level of 1,400 tons per day to 2,100 tons per day by the end of 2014. They said, "On one hand we are increasing our local gas/oil production, but on the other local oil and gas production is depleting by 10 percent per annum. In the coming months we are going to focus on the utilisation of standard gas, wherein the country would have about 300 to 450 mmcfd additional gas."
As per officials, the concerned authorities must check the increasing ratio of Unaccounted for Gas (UfG) losses in the gas distribution companies, which at present stand at 11 percent or 470 mmcfd of the total gas production of 4.3 Billion Cubic Feet per Day (BCFD).
On UfG losses, a Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority official said both the gas utilities - Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited are trying their best to reduce line losses and so far a significant decrease has been witnessed in this regard.
At present, the total production of LPG stands at roughly 511,000 tons per year of which refineries accounted for 55 percent, while gas fields contribute about 45 percent. After the addition of new LPG to the system, local production would mount to 700,000 tons per year. "Up to 80,000 tons of LPG is imported, while another 25,000 tons are smuggled into the country from Turkmenistan and Iran," sources said.