The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has timely averted LPG supply crisis in winter by taking cognizance of letter issued by a Deputy Executive Director (DED) LPG. Sources said that a deliberate attempt was made by lower bureaucracy in Ogra to create LPG logistic and supply crisis in the country.
However, sources maintained that if timely action had not been taken, all the LPG producing oil/gas fields, refineries, and import terminals would have been completely shut down causing millions of dollars loss to oil, gas and LPG production.
At present, LPG accounts for about 1.2 percent of the total primary energy supply in the country. This low share of LPG in the total energy is due to supply constraints. Only 24 percent consumers are provided with natural gas and rest 76 percent have reliance on LPG, kerosene oil, wood and other fuels. The annual consumption of LPG is 1061447 Mt.
Besides, one can well imagine the consequences of non-supply of LPG in far flung and hilly areas facing lowest temperature in severe winter season.
Background of the matter is that someone at Ogra had interpreted, proposed and got the then authority's decision to grant license to individual LPG Road tanker sometime in 2011-12, under the pretext of LPG Production and Distribution Rules 2001. Since then OGRA was able to grant only three licenses during the last nine years. Logically and practically, seeking certification of the LPG tankers from the Chief Inspector of Explosives and relevant Transport Authority should have been the only requirements for listing such certified bowsers and making part of relevant LPG Marketing Licences. However, it was due to some dubious motives that additional requirement of third party certification was made a mandatory and individual LPG Road Tankers' licence was decided to be issued without realizing that how inappropriate and impractical it was for a high profile regulator to micro-manage each individual tankers license without adding any value. Likewise, if license was required for each LPG tankers, thousands of petroleum products tankers should also be regulated likewise.
Certification of each LPG tanker against cost of Rs 50,000 plus tantamount only to make the business process difficult and expensive. Third party certification for a road tanker, which is already regulated and certified by two different authorities under the valid laws, does not add any value except to enrich third party certifier and for some possible vested interests.
The rules nowhere specify as to whether individual LPG bowser was to be regulated by Ogra or the LPG bowsers were deemed to be part of the LPG marketing companies' licenses. In 2013, the Ministry of Petroleum referred the matter to Ogra for a decision. However, during last 20 years, OGRA did not process on the matter under its "Ease of Doing Plan".
When contacted, Ogra spokesman Imran Ghaznavi confirmed that a letter was issued by LPG department which was approved 4 months back, but a member gas has the powers to review the departmental actions.
He said that Member Gas soon after joining the office reviewed the whole case and identified flaws in the intended licenses which were causing delay in implementation of the said initiatives.
Certain procedural simplification was proposed and placed before the Authority for consideration.
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