OGDC’s oil output hits peak above 50,000 bpd

Company embarks on aggressive exploration drive in Balochistan, K-P

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) has pushed its crude oil production to the highest level at 50,157 barrels per day (bpd).

Earlier, the crude oil production by OGDC - the country’s largest oil and gas explorer - was ranging between 35,000 and 45,000 bpd. At the close of previous financial year on June 30, 2016, its crude oil output was 41,000 bpd.



Speaking at a press conference, OGDC Managing Director Zahid Mir, accompanied by Board of Directors Chairman Zahid Muzaffar, revealed that at present Pakistan’s total crude oil production stood at 88,000 bpd, of which OGDC’s share was 50,175 bpd.

He emphasised that OGDC had achieved a milestone for the first time in history by eclipsing the target of 50,000 bpd set by the board of directors.

“This milestone has been achieved due to aggressive exploration work and we will try to sustain this production level,” he said, while announcing that a processing plant at the Kunnar Pasakhi Deep (KPD) field was going to be commissioned on Wednesday.

“It will add 100 million cubic feet of gas per day to the system from the first week of December,” he said.

The KPD field will also churn out 4,000 bpd of crude oil and 400 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Mir pointed out that OGDC had embarked on an aggressive exploration drive which was reflected in the ongoing seismic operations in energy-rich Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

“For the first time in the country’s history, nine seismic crews are working compared to four to five crews in the past,” he said.

Of the nine crews, four were working in those areas of Balochistan where, Mir said, it had been very difficult to move in the past because of poor law and order situation.



Apart from these, two seismic crews are engaged in extensive activities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) following a marked improvement in the security conditions.

He said the company was seeing greater prospects of big discoveries in Balochistan and K-P, which were major areas of focus in hydrocarbon exploration.

Of the total crude oil production in the country, the share of K-P stands at 26,000-27,000 bpd.

Responding to a question about the Nashpa field expansion project, Mir revealed that the contractors had refused to work on the project during the long march organised by a major opposition party. Initial investigation had been held which pointed out that the company had not en cashed the bid bond, which had expired.

He said OGDC had acquired 4,000 acres of land in Balochistan and inked an agreement during the time of Akbar Bugti. The company wrote a letter to the Frontier Corps (FC), which had encircled a huge area for security reasons, asking whether it could reduce that area. Replying to another question, Mir insisted that the royalty should be spent on local people in the gas-producing districts, but it did not happen.

OGDC Board Chairman Zahid Muzaffar said a sharp dip in oil prices had provided an opportunity to the company to enhance its drilling activities, adding this was the reason behind the jump in crude oil output.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2016.

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