OGDC to ramp up gas production from Uch field

Increase of 160 mmcfd to help save $900m in fuel imports.

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), the country’s largest oil and gas explorer and producer, is expected to produce 160 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas from the Uch-II project, a step that will help save over $900 million per annum in fuel imports needed for power generation.

“After completing a comprehensive study of Uch gas field, OGDC has undertaken a development plan that will boost gas production from the field from 220 mmcfd to 380 mmcfd. As a result, we will commit 160 mmcfd for 25 years,” OGDC Managing Director Riaz Khan said while talking to The Express Tribune.

According to him, total recoverable reserves have been estimated at 5.3 trillion cubic feet from the field. Gas supply from Uch-II is expected to start from November this year.

Uch gas field, discovered by Pakistan Petroleum Limited in 1955, is located about 67 klometres (km) southeast of Dera Bugti in Balochistan.

“So far we have drilled 30 wells and are supplying 220-225 mmcfd to Uch Power Limited, the first mega low heating value gas-fired plant with a capacity of 586 megawatts, through a 47 km pipeline,” Khan said.

He pointed out that the project involved installation of a gas collecting facility, installation of a dehydration and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) removal plant and a gas delivery station.

OGDC has signed a gas sales agreement with Uch Power and has also inked a contract for plant construction with TDE-Zealcon, which is working at the site.

“The completion of Uch-II development project will lead to a marked increase in gas production. It will ramp up production by 160 mmcfd of gas and enable Uch Power to produce 988MW of electricity, making it the largest power producer using low BTU (British thermal unit) gas and providing employment to locals,” Khan said.

Furthermore, an average of $2.6 million will be saved every day in the shape of import substitution because the additional gas, instead of oil, will be used for power production.

According to Khan, OGDC has so far spent Rs34 million on different social welfare schemes in Uch area of Dera Bugti including healthcare facilities, water supply and infrastructure building such as construction of a road from Dera Allah Yar to Sohbat Pur.

In the current fiscal year 2013-14, the company plans to spend Rs9.16 million on a host of welfare schemes in Uch, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th,  2013.

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