The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) oversees Pakistan’s gas sector, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Natural Gas, and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). However, domestic natural gas production is declining at 8-10 percent annually. Meanwhile, LPG is growing rapidly, accounting for 1.5 percent of Pakistan’s energy mix.
Pakistan consumes over two million tons of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) annually, yet local production accounts for only 40% of this demand. To fill the gap, approximately 40 percent of LPG imports enter through land borders, predominantly via Taftan, Gabd, and Mand. This influx, largely unregulated, raises significant concerns about quality and safety.
The imported LPG contains hazardous impurities, due to its origin in outdated refineries across the border.
The absence of robust quality checks has allowed these low-quality products to flood the market, exacerbating Pakistan’s already critical air quality issues. The unchecked adulteration of LPG not only worsens smog but also poses serious health and environmental risks.
In Sindh and Punjab, LPG adulteration with carbon dioxide (CO?) is rampant, allegedly facilitated by the collusion of the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP), local administrative authorities, and Ogra. CO2 is injected into tankers to artificially increase pressure for improved vaporisation, a hazardous practice that has resulted in fatal accidents too.
Research by esteemed institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, USA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) (2020) underscores the dangers of such practices. Combustion of hydrocarbons like natural gas, oil, or coal typically produces carbon dioxide (CO2) as the main byproduct when oxygen combines with these fuels. However, incomplete combustion—caused by insufficient oxygen supply or low temperatures—results in the production of carbon monoxide (CO), a highly toxic and harmful byproduct.
This dual threat from CO2 adulteration and CO emissions highlights the urgent need for stringent action to check quality assurance in Pakistan’s LPG sector.
NASA underscores the pivotal role of carbon monoxide (CO) in atmospheric chemistry, as it contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone and urban smog, which degrade air quality and impair the atmosphere’s natural cleansing mechanisms.
Beyond CO2 adulteration, LPG coming through the border contains other impurities as well such as, ethylene, propylene, styrene, sulfur compounds, oily residues, amines, benzene, and toluene are also prevalent, further exacerbating environmental degradation and posing serious health risks. These contaminants highlight the urgent need for stringent quality control measures and regulatory oversight to address the deteriorating air quality due to the unchecked adulteration of LPG.
Filling of LPG from Cylinder to Cylinder at the distributor premises of LPG marketing companies or at any other unauthorized place/shop normally doing illegal decanting is full of risks. This results in several LPG fire-related accidents that were reported countrywide during the last couple of years due to illegal decanting and adulteration. This is one record of Ogra that mostly filling of cylinders is not carried out at LPG Storage and Filling Plants being the licensed premises.
This is another sad story of the LPG sector that Ogra issued 315+ licences for LPG Marketing Companies and 5,800 for LPG Distributors.
In the year 2011, there were 76 marketing companies registered with Ogra. This massive growth came when the Aristotle of Pakistan LNG Limited opened doors for big companies, which is also one of the reasons behind adulteration in LPG.
When comparing Pakistan’s annual LPG consumption, which exceeds two million tons, with Bharat Petroleum’s robust marketing and distribution infrastructure, the disparity in operational efficiency and quality assurance becomes evident.
Bharat Petroleum boasts an extensive and integrated network. This infrastructure ensures seamless delivery of high-quality LPG and cylinders directly to customers, embodying a service model unparalleled in the region.
A cornerstone of Bharat Petroleum’s “Pure for Sure” initiative is the tamper-proof seal with QR codes on LPG cylinders. This innovation guarantees cylinder integrity and quality from the production plant to the customer’s doorstep. This model provides a blueprint for maintaining international quality standards and operational excellence, addressing both customer satisfaction and safety concerns.
For Pakistan, adopting a model akin to Bharat Petroleum’s could revolutionize its LPG sector, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality, and tamper-proof products directly to end-users. This system, centered on stringent quality control, innovative mechanisms like tamper-proof seals with QR codes, and operational transparency, could significantly elevate the standards of the LPG industry. However, substantial barriers hinder such progress.
In Pakistan, LPG marketing companies wield disproportionate influence, permeating regulatory and financial systems and exerting control over the appointments of key officials in entities like OGRA, HDIP, and the Ministry of Petroleum. This entrenched influence suppresses the possibility of adopting forward-thinking models like Bharat Petroleum’s.
As a result, the Ogra-compromised management is outdated, perpetuating practices that fail to address substandard product quality and rampant adulteration. These issues, left unchecked, continue to degrade Pakistan’s environment and public health, tarnishing the nation referred to as the “Land of the Pure.”
Implementing a model inspired by Bharat Petroleum requires an unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability. These steps are not only necessary to elevate Pakistan’s LPG sector but also critical to mitigating the environmental and health risks posed by low-quality and adulterated LPG distribution.
Given the entrenched corruption and institutional stagnation within Ogra, HDIP, and the Ministry of Petroleum, meaningful reforms may only be possible through external intervention.
Based on extensive firsthand experience, it is evident that these institutions resisting digitization or the adoption of AI, as their leadership has been strategically positioned to obstruct any changes that could ensure the purity of LPG.
A viable solution could involve temporarily transferring their management to an international consortium consisting of the UN, IMF, and World Bank for ten years. This consortium would focus on institutional restructuring, the implementation of global best practices, and the development of a transparent, efficient, and sustainable energy sector.
The ultimate goal would be to ensure that LPG is no longer a contributor to smog, thereby fostering an environment that aligns with the purity that the “Land of the Pure” aspires to uphold.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024