Panel calls for mechanism to cut gas losses.

ISLAMABAD -- The Prime Minister`s Inspection Commission (PMIC) has asked the government to introduce a proper mechanism for metering, measurement and quantification of gas supply including from domestic fields andimports to end consumers so as to minimise billions of rupees loss to the nation.

In an investigation into natural gas losses, the PMIC said Pakistan`s gas losses officially ranged between 13-15pc compared to 0.5-5pc across the world due to incorrect or no measurement of gas and lack of commitment by stakeholders including exploration and production and distribution firms to accurately and fully reconcile system gas inputs and outputs. It is a simple accounting of what goes into and comes out of the system.

`Losses are present in the entire supply chain at much higher level which are partially allowed legally and partially covered through deliberately confusingmetering and unit conversion formulae, said the PMIC.

`Gas wellhead metering of raw gas has been absent at majority of fields. This is a serious issue as the reservoir production remains unmetered and thus upstream regulator, the Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions (DGPC), remains oblivious to the gas flare quantities, leakages, wastages, internal consumptions at processing plants and wellhead gathering pipelines,` the PMIC reported to the prime minister.

The same is the case for regasification of gas imports where gas lost or used in regasification terminals remains a mystery even after four years of R LNG opera-tions. Non-existence of energy reconcillation across each component of gas supply chain renders the entire gas supply chain free to waste at will, naturally to the detriment of a country that is already reeling from numerous economic challenges.

The report said the ministry of energy has always acted to protect commercial interests of gas utilities and facilitated approvals of policy guidelines related to losses from the ECC of the Cabinet which were against Ogra law in the context of efficiency and protection of consumer interests.

The role of Ogra, the report said, had far below the conduct expected from an independent and prudent regulator.

It has caused significant confusion through formulation of rules and decision making which are contradictory to each other. Also, the role of DGPC for upstream sector efficiency and loss control was realised for the first time in June 2017 with identification of anomalies at five gas fields. However, corrective efforts...

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