OGDC touches new crude production record

Churns out 48,767 barrels per day, eclipsing the earlier peak achieved in 2008

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), the country’s largest explorer of hydrocarbons, has broken its own crude production record by churning out 48,767 barrels of oil a day in the current month.

Earlier, the company had hit the peak at 46,000 barrels per day in 2008, but the output started falling with the passage of time.



“Now, OGDC has touched a new record-high production level compared to that achieved in 2008 due to the strategy adopted by current management of the company,” an official of the company remarked.

The official said the company managing director had put greater focus on an increase in seismic studies and as a result OGDC acquired record seismic data in its history over the last 16 months. It included the seismic data gathered by in-house crew as well as company contractors.



The drilling of wells increased almost 100% in terms of meters in the past one year, which led to six discoveries. On the other hand, field service cost of contractors was brought down by an average 25% including the cost of drilling rigs.

The company had drilled 53,000 meters in June 2015, which jumped up to 95,000 meters in June 2016.

According to the official, the number of wells drilled till June 2016 was 26. Crude oil production, which was 41,600 barrels per day, rose to about 48,700 barrels on October 12, 2016.



“Pakistan’s total crude oil production is 85,000 barrels per day and OGDC’s share is in excess of 57%; the crude production achieved by OGDC has never been matched by any foreign or local exploration and production company operating in Pakistan,” the company management said in a statement on Thursday.

The management attributed the highest-ever crude oil production of 48,767 barrels per day to increased focus on project completion, work-over jobs and development activities.

“The company witnessed stagnation of growth in crude oil production over the last five years, however, output numbers are likely to improve in coming months after the completion of ongoing projects,” it said.

Lauding services of OGDC’s engineers and workers, the management said they did a commendable job and were vigorously pursuing even higher goals.

It also gave credit for the record production to the company board and management for developing an effective growth-oriented strategy during a challenging period when the oil and gas sector had come under tremendous pressure.



At present, the demand for petroleum products in the country stands at around 23 million tons per annum and it is expected to reach 27 million tons in 2020.

Of the total, 10 million tons (44%) are produced by domestic refineries whereas the remaining 13 million tons (56%) are brought through imports.

Similarly, more than two-thirds of the crude processed by domestic refineries is imported. In financial year 2015, out of the total crude processed by the refineries, around 3.9 million tons (32%) were produced locally whereas 8.2 million tons (68%) were imported from overseas markets.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2016.

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