KARACHI – Oil production has increased by an annual 1.1 percent during the nine months of FY11, while growth in gas production has slowed down to an annual 0.2 percent during the same period, following a relatively better performance at the year start.
In terms of hydrocarbon, total sector production enhanced by a miniscule 0.1 percent annually during the nine months of FY11, as per weekly data released by the Pakistan Petroleum Information Services (PPIS).Turndown in gas was visible in the 3QFY11, where it declined by an annual 2.5 percent, though it was still up by a quarterly 1.1 percent.
Decline in production of fields like Zamzama, Mari (-7 percent monthly in Mar-11 alone, supplier of key fertiliser players), Sui and Kandhkot (40 percent share in country’s total gas production during 3QFY11) – posting a combined annual decline of 11 percent (-0.2 percent quarterly), triggered the downtrend.
The trend more than offsets incremental gas production flows from Tal block (25 percent annually), Qadirpur (10 percent annually), Sawan (one percent annually) and Kadanwari (14 percent annually), which cumulatively held 31 percent share in total gas production during the third quarter of FY11.
Evidently, the said pattern is more beneficial for OGDC as it has share in fields registering growth and has no exposure in major decliners mentioned above (also depicted by an annual 2.3 percent growth in OGDC’s gas production during 3QFY11).
