ISLAMABAD, April 13: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) conducted a public hearing on Tuesday on a petition filed by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) for the grant of licence to sell natural gas from Uch Gas Field to Uch Power Limited (UPL).

According to a press release, the matter was heard by three members of the authority - vice-chairman Jawaid Inam, Rashid Farooq and M.H. Asif. The hearing was attended by the parties concerned.

OGDCL's representative, Rizwan ur Rehman Khan, explained the salient features of the petition and responded to the questions raised by the authority. SNGPL had filed their written comments with Ogra against the petition, but did not participate.

OGDCL informed Ogra that Uch Field was discovered in 1950s but could not be developed due to sub-pipeline quality specifications. It was later allocated by the GoP to OGDCL in 1980s by issuing a licence under the Pakistan Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Rules, 1986 to develop it for private power generation.

Subsequently, the government signed an implementation agreement with UPL under which all fuel requirements of the plant were to be met through Uch Gas Field. Under the agreement, a gas supply agreement was also signed between the OGDCL and UPL to supply a maximum of 106,000 mmbtu gas per day to UPL.

Consequently, OGDCL developed the field and by making heavy investment constructed its own gas transmission system and started supply of gas to UPL in order to meet contractual obligations. OGDCL's activity of sale of gas to its power consumer falls within the ambit of regulated activities for which OGDCL has the status of deemed lincencee.

Under the Petroleum Policy 2001, E&P companies have been fully authorized to construct and operate pipeline connecting the fields to delivery point. For such activities, the E&P companies have been allowed transmission tariff as approved by the relevant regulatory authority in accordance with the applicable rules.