KHAIRPUR, Oct 3: A 47-kilometre-long gas pipeline connecting four wells of the Latif Field with the Sawan processing plant was commissioned at a ceremony held in the Sawan area of Khairpur district after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formally inaugurated the project at the main ceremony in the PM House, Islamabad, on Thursday.

The project will help channelise 100 MMSCFD targeted gas supply to the Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Ltd (SSGPL) and the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd (SNGPL).

M/s OMV along with their partners, ENI and the Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) have been working on this project commissioned by the Directorate General of Petroleum Concession (DGPC) under the provisions of the Petroleum Policy 2012.

OMV assets manager Abdul Wahid Chughtai briefed the media about the project and its vital role in the country’s economy particularly the energy sector. “It will reduce a big burden on the economy as it is not imported but indigenous energy. The Latif field has been contributing three per cent of the country’s total gas production since Dec 2008,” he added.

He said that as winter was inching closer, the targeted increase through the project was being received as good news by industrial as well as domestic consumers and other stakeholders across the country.

It was stated that the DGPC had approved the Latif Field Development Plan (FDP) on June 8, 2012. The government allowed the policy gas price during that year for the incremental volumes beyond the FDP base production once a minimum 10 per cent increase was achieved upon its execution and a formal notification.

Earlier, during a round of the gas field, OMV quality engineer Shahid Altaf apprised the media about the drilling and four development wells’ tie-in work. He explained that the field was named after Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and ‘Sawan’ came from Sawan Khaskheli, a local landowner on whose land the first gas well in the area was discovered.

The media was informed that the project had created employment opportunities for the locals as the average manpower requirement in the project was around 1,400 employed at multiple work sites.

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility, several community development schemes had also been initiated for the benefit of the people of the Latif, Miano, Sawan and Gambat areas, the media was told.OMV executives said that the company along with local stakeholders was patronising six schools in the area.

Some of the students from these schools also presented a national song at the ceremony.

A training resource centre for teachers has been established in order to ensure quality education.

Opportunities have also been provided to local youths to obtain technical education and widen their career prospects, it was stated.