OGRA to set up offices in K-P and Balochistan

Authority conducts UFG benchmark study, invites stakeholders to make recommendations

PESHAWAR: Ogra will open its offices in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan to provide better services to people, announced Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Chairperson Uzma Adil Khan Thursday.

She expressed these views during a consultative workshop organised by Ogra, on the issue of unaccounted for gas (UFG), and a draft report to this effect was also made public for workable suggestions and recommendations.



A comprehensive UFG’s benchmark study conducted by Ogra through an independent international reputed consultant has been presented before stakeholders and experts of K-P and Fata, seeking their workable recommendations and suggestions to make it more meaningful and goal-oriented.

Speaking on the occasion, Adil said the main objective of this seminar was to share the findings of the draft report with people and stakeholders of K-P and Fata to incorporate their valuable recommendations and proposals in the report before its finalisation.

She said that UFG was one of the most critical elements in the gas sector and it is very important for the stakeholders to understand the term ‘UFG’ and the reasons contributing to it. Thursday’s seminar was part of a series of consultative workshops at federal and provincial level and such seminars have already been held in Lahore and Karachi while the last workshop would be held in Balochistan on March 22.

Once the report is finalised after Balochistan seminar, Ogra will thoroughly examine and evaluate it before submitting it to the government, said Adil.

The report will help determine measures as to what should be UFG benchmarks for the gas companies during the next five years for effective and better service delivery to people, said Ogra chairperson.

The gas experts and regulators urged the gas companies to control its UFG losses so that unnecessary burden may not be passed on to consumers and the financial health of the gas companies could be improved.

The SNGPL authorities clarified that their consumers’ network were 100% on meters and gas supply was smoothly underway to domestic and industrial consumers in K-P.



Despite shortage of staff and meagre financial resources, they said the UFG re-education plan of SNGPL was highly successful and zero tolerance policy has been adopted against gas thieves.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2017.

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