Govt Saves Rs 5.2 Bln By Detecting 272,149 Gas Theft Cases

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Aug, 2021 ) :The government saved Rs 5.2 billion on account of detecting 272,149 gas theft cases with total volume of 6,365 million cubic feet (MMCF).

According to three-year performance report released on Thursday, the average monthly loss of high Unaccounted For Gas (UFG) areas was 1,348 MMCF in Fiscal Year 2019-20 which has now been reduced to 859 MMCF during current FY 2020-21.

In order to reduce UFG losses, project regarding Extension and Rehabilitation of gas network in Oil and Gas Producing Districts (Karak etc) under 14 Sales Meter Stations (SMSs) at a total cost of Rs. 9.0 billion (with Rs. 4.7 billion as SNGPL share & Rs. 4.3 billion as KPK Govt. share) was prepared.

In July, this year, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited commissioned a new gas pipeline to augment gas supply for its customers residing in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton areas/ The 7-Km, 20-inch diameter, main link distribution project was undertaken by the Company's Projects and Construction Department.

Work on the project started in December 2020 from the vicinity of Dolmen Mall Clifton.

Open access was granted to private sector to import LNG and Private sector has been allowed to set up terminals in the country with no involvement from Government.

Similarly, two new modern refineries are under development while incentives package is being provided for upgradation of existing refineries.

Meanwhile, 39 new discoveries in oil and gas sector have been made since 2018 while 40 new blocks for oil exploration in process. New downstream oil policy has also been finalized, the report said.

Dualization of white oil pipeline reducing road traffic to be operational soon.

Professional CEOs were appointed in PSOCL, OGDCL, SNGPL, SSGCL, PARCO and GHPL and institutional arrangements have been put in place to provide technical training to ex-cadre employees of Petroleum Division.

The Petroleum Division has also initiated scores of Public Sector Development Projects (PSDP) for ensuring energy security of the country in last three years.

The projects included exploration and evaluation of coal in Nosham and Bahlol Areas Balochistan, Geological Mapping of 50 Toposheets out of 354 unmapped Toposheets of outcrop area of Balochistan province, Legal Consultancy Services for drafting of Model Mineral Agreement and updating of Regulatory Framework, supply of 40 MMCFD gas/RLNG to Allama Iqbal Industrial City Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Faisalabad, supply of 10 MMCFD RLNG to Bostan Special Economic Zone, supply of 13 MMCFD RLNG to Bin Qasim Industrial Park, Pakistan National Research Programe initiated on Geological Hazards (Earthquakes and Landslides) Data Acquisition along Active Faults and Identification of Potential Landslides Hotspot Zones, Development of Strategic Underground Gas Storages (SUGS), expansion and up-gradation of Pakistan Petroleum Core House (PETCORE), supply of 13.

5 MMCFD Gas at Doorstep (Zero Point) of Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Sindh, supply of 30 MMCFD Gas at Doorstep (Zero Point) of Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, up-gradation of POL Testing Facilities of HDIP at Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and ISO Certification of Petroleum Testing Laboratory, Islamabad, establishment of National Minerals Data Centre (NDMC), strengthening and Up-gradation of Karachi Laboratories Complex (KLC).

Similarly, Pak-Arab Pipeline Company Limited (PAPCO) has converted its existing 786 KM long White Oil Pipeline from Karachi to Mehmood Kot (Lahore) from present single product (HSD) to Multi product (HSD+PMG). Furthermore, Pipeline capacity has been enhanced from present 8.0 MPTA to 12.0 MPTA.

PARCO has also converted its existing MahmoodKot-Faisalabad-Machike 284 KM single product (HSD) pipeline to a multi product (HSD+PMG). Pipeline capacity has been increased from 3.0 MTPA to 7.0 MTPA, the report said.

Under the proposed Refining Policy Import duty on Diesel has been reduced from 13% to 10% which will be applicable as Tariff protection for refineries, effective from January 01, 2022 to December 31, 2026.

During FY 2018-19 and 2019-20, storage capacity for MS and HSD have been enhanced from 0.49 million MT to 0.68 million MT and 1.222 million MT to 1.447 million MT respectively to meet the enhanced demand of Petroleum Products.