July-December 2016: 21 licences granted to establish OMCs

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) granted 21 licences for establishing oil marketing companies (OMCs) during July-December 2016. Senior Executive Director OGRA Imran Ghaznavi stated this during a briefing to a select group of reporters here on Wednesday.
He said during the aforementioned six months, licences to following OMCs have been issued: M/s Best Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Oil Industries Pakistan (Pvt) Limited, M/s Accel Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Euro Oil (Pvt) Limited, M/s Oleum Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Al-Noor Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Damam Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Max Fuels (Pvt) Limited, M/s Fast Oil (Pvt) Limited, M/s Hi-Tech Lubricants (Pvt) Limited, M/s Jinn Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Vital Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s International Petrochemicals (Pvt) Limited, M/s Allied Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Only One Energy (Pvt) Limited, M/s Pak Gasoline Services (Pvt) Limited, M/s Shams Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Berkeley Oil & Gas Development (Pvt) Limited, M/s Taj Gasoline (Pvt) Limited, M/s My Petroleum (Pvt) Limited and M/s Terminal One (Pvt) Limited. The establishment of these companies will bring a minimum investment of Rs 10.5 billion in the next three years, he added.
He said that during the period, OGRA granted marketing permission to five oil marketing companies (OMCs), including M/s Horizon Oil Company (Pvt) Limited, M/s Petrowell (Pvt) Limited, M/s Kepler Petroleum (Pvt) Limited, M/s Outreach (Pvt) Limited and M/s Z&M Oils (Pvt) Limited, to the extent of the province wherein respective companies have built their oil storages; and thereby introduced new players in the marketing arena of petroleum products.
In order to ensure compliance with the notified technical standards, the OGRA through different third-party inspectors (TPIs) undertook the inspection of oil storage infrastructure developed by various OMCs namely: M/s Bakri Trading Company (Pvt) Limited at Shikarpur; M/s Petrowell (Pvt) Limited at Port Qasim; M/s Outreach (Pvt) Limited at Manga Mandi; M/s Kepler Petroleum (Pvt) Limited at Daulatpur; M/s Gas & Oil Pakistan (Pvt) Limited at Shaheed Benazirabad (Nawabshah); M/s Z&M Oils (Pvt) Limited at Pattoki (Kasur); M/s Hascol Petroleum Limited at Amangarh, Daulatpur (additional); Shikarpur (additional) & Mehmoodkot; and M/s Horizon Oil Company (Pvt) Limited, Vehari.
Four licences were granted to companies, including M/s Hascol Terminals Limited, M/s Fauji Tarns Terminal Limited and M/s Hascol Petroleum Limited, for development of new oil storages/ terminals at different locations (Thalian, Port Qasim & Kotlajam), which will further strengthen the oil supply infrastructure.
Two lube oil blending plants and six lubricant marketing companies were granted licences by the authority. Various petitions pertaining to the revenue requirements of gas companies were evaluated after conducting due diligence and consultation with the stakeholders. The aspect of financial and technical viability and prudence in evaluating gas companies' assets, projects, etc was ensured; thus, enhancing gas companies' performance and productivity and eventually resulting in consumer benefit. The following petitions related to estimated revenue requirements (ERRs) and final revenue requirements (FRRs) of both gas companies were decided by the authority: (a) determination of FRR (FY 2015-16); (b) motion for review on FRR for FY 2012-13, FY 2013-14, FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16; (c) determination of ERR (FY 2016-17); (d) and motion for review on DERR (FY 2016-17).
Ghaznavi said that the authority is carrying out the Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) study to determine the reasonable UFG benchmarks for gas utilities in line with best international practices through a highly reputed firm, KPMG. He added that the authority is assisting the government in conducting the un-bundling exercise of gas distribution companies.
The OGRA granted licences for supplying and selling of re-gasified liquid natural gas (RLNG) to a private firm (Gaseous Development Co Pvt Ltd), he said. The OGRA reviewed "Third Party Access (TPA) Rules, 2012" to provide level playing field to all stakeholders and has been initiated in line with GoP's unbundling scheme, he said.
The OGRA approved agreements among the SNGPL, SSGC, power consumers and PSO regarding import of the LNG for supply to RLNG-based power projects. The OGRA approved various gas sale purchase agreements (GSPAs) among gas producers, gas utility companies and bulk gas consumers.
The OGRA reviewed and processed various projects of gas companies such as SNGPL's 5 years project for overhauling of compressors, SSGC's Quetta pipelines capacity enhancement project, etc. The authority over the period issued 15 licences for operations/marketing of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage and filling plants, issued 20 licences for construction of LPG storage and filling plants, issued 5 licences for construction of LPG auto refuelling stations, issued 3 licences for storage and refuelling of LPG, granted 3 licences for construction of LPG air mix LPG plants, issued one license for LPG production and storage facility and six manufacturers were authorised for manufacturing of LPG equipments, he said.
Moreover, one licence for construction of LNG receiving terminal at Port Qasim, Karachi, to Pakistan GasPort Consortium Limited was granted and extension in project completion timelines for LNG Integrated Project by Global Energy Infrastructure Pakistan (GEIP) and Global Energy Infrastructure Limited (GEIL) at Port Qasim, Karachi, he added.