The Qadirpur gasfield is the OGDCL's second major gas producing field, and it is contributing 500 mmcfd gas to the total gas production. The management's policy of flaring up at the well is going unnoticed and its continuity would simply mean more and more loss to the national economy.
The experts say that gas flaring at Qadirpur gasfield was resulting in wastage of 2 to 3 percent hydrocarbons along with carbondioxide.
The Qadirpur Phase-I was developed and commissioned by the OGDCL to supply 200 mmcfd gas to the SNGPL. Later, its production was enhanced to 500 mmcfd to meet the ever increasing demand for various categories of consumers.
The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited preferred outdated and obsolete machinery by installing membrane technology for gas treatment at the Qadirpur gasfield.
Experts say the membrane technology is one of the rejected technologies for gas treatment for its poor result and inherited problems, adding that one of the major problems of membrane technology for gas treatment is wastage of huge quantity of this natural resource during processing such as flaring up.
They say as per the membrane design the gas treatment system cannot recover 100 hydrocarbons from the raw gas, and thus, cause irreparable loss to the exploration and production company, which in the case of public sector entity as is the case with the OGDCL ultimately goes to the national exchequer.
The OGDCL accepted the rejected and failed technology knowingly that its net result would be loss to the national exchequer due to flaring up of gas at the well-head.
In order to recover back some of these hydrocarbons from the low pressure waste stream (permeate gas), the OGDCL had installed two recycle turbo compressors installed at Qadirpur gasfield. One of these turbo compressors is non-operative since its instalment due to which huge quantity of hydrocarbons was being flared up at the well-head.
Experts say the OGDCL was flaring up 7 to 10 mmcfd gas per day at Qadirpur and the accumulated loss have gone to billions of rupees.
The OGDCL has been continuing with this unhealthy and non-professional practice for the last nine years and its management was not ready to take any steps to stop this huge loss of gas.
The top management of the OGDCL is totally indifferent towards the matter. Its degree could be well judged from only one factor that it has turned deaf ears to the notice of the Director General Petroleum Concessions, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources given to it from time-to-time for immediate stoppage of flaring up of gas to plug loss of gas from the discovery.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is already grilling OGDCL Managing Director Najam Kemal Hyder in a separate reference for his alleged involvement in irregularities committed at the Qadirpur gasfield.
The question of flaring up gas by the OGDCL at its major discovery becomes more serious issue for Pakistan in a situation wherein its gas reserves are depleting quickly and the government is weighing various options such as import of gas from neighbouring countries to maintain its cheaper source of energy for industrial growth in the coming years.
Both President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz are taking personal interest in gas supply and demand issue since it is a base for industrial growth and an effective tool to remain compatible in today's world of competition. They have been pledging more gas to all stakeholders so that the consumers could get comparatively low-cost source of energy for their consumption.